Love Like This
by katthecat12
Summary: Sakura's working in a night club called "Sharingan" in order to pay for college tuition, but her *bump* into Sasuke in the hall of her first day of work will forever alter what's in store for her. lemons/smut. R&R! SasuSaku
1. You're In My Club Now

**Disclaimer:**** I DON NOT own Naruto or any of the brand name products I might mention "ex: Pepto-Bismol"**

A/N: I've been having fun making fan fics and I hope that you like this one. There might be some lemon/smut later on, which is why I went ahead and rated it "M". That and she's working in a freaking night club, so that in of itself is pretty suggestive. Anyway be sure to R&R!!! thanks!!! I'll be working on chapter two to upload!!

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_**Chapter 1 – You're In My Club Now**_

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Sakura was a college girl who just wanted an easy job to pay for her college tuition without sacrificing her dignity. Much to her dismay the only jobs that she was offered were in a club called "Sharingan" that belonged to the Uchiha family, so she'd heard anyway. They were currently looking for dancers and entertainers sense they were still a new club and were somewhat under-employed. She saw that the shifts and pay were very generous, but she didn't want to sacrifice her dignity did she? Well the listed jobs that she was offered where as follows"

_Poll dancer_

_Lap dancer_

_Cage dancer_

_Floor dancer_

_Bar maid (must take self defense course to apply)_

_Go-go dancer_

_Escort girl (you're the date of any guy that comes to the club alone and wants to dance)_

_And stage dancer (dance on the stage with or without someone performing)_

The last one had caught her attention and she immediately asked the lady who was the staff manager for Sharingan if that job was 'dirty'.

"Well you perform some flirtatious moves, and you show more then a 'decent' amount of skin, but sense you're on the stage no one can touch you. So in other words it's about the 'cleanest' job we have besides a bar girl, but you're not skilled in self defense so that's out of the question" the lady replied while handing Sakura the application forms.

The lady scanned over them when Sakura had finished filling them out and then handed Sakura a schedule sheet. Her eyes widened and said "but my shift is starts at 6pm tonight!! That's in an hour!!!"

"Well then I guess you better hurry, the club's only twenty minutes away from the employment office here, and they'll be waiting for you there to get dressed in your stage cloths. You better hurry up and get going!"

Sakura waved and gave her thanks while running back out to her car. She got in and started speeding down the road (but she was careful to not go more then seven miles over the speed limit). When she arrived there she bumped into a man who was dressed in a navy blue collared button up shirt with the top four undone revealing a white t-shirt underneath. He was also wearing dark denim jeans with a white wash pattern on his thighs and shins. Sakura was taken aback at his dark onyx orbs and equally black hair. She'd never seen a man more handsome, and now she'd knocked him pretty much on his ass on her big rush down the hall.

"I'm so sorry!!" She yelled while trying to help him up.

"Why are you in such a rush anyway?" The man replied with a grunt while rubbing his hind quarters where the impact hit him most.

"I'm sorry!! I can't talk right now!!! I have to go! I need to get ready!!"

"For what?" but when he asked she was out of ear shot and running down the hall.

Sakura wiped her brow and hopped that man was just some random person who didn't work here or wasn't planning on coming to the club tonight. Little did she know that he was the owner of the whole place, and would be watching the party from his private plexi-glass windowed suspended booth in the middle of the whole place fifty feet above the ground. All four walls were giant plexi-glass windows, and the floor was a thick plexi glass too. There're a few sofas and some mini holes in the glass to hear the music through, as well as a self serving bar. It was quite a hang out, but then again he was the owner. He was planning on bringing a few friends too.

Sakura bolted into the back room to find all the girls getting dressed. She was uneasy about being backstage with a bunch of 'sluts' and she was being nice… but then she saw a rack with outfits and name tags, and she figured she might as well take a look. When she examined the rack hers was in a plastic casing, she guessed it was to protect the material (however little there might be). She took it to a small little dressing room in the back with a curtain and unzipped the bag to find not just a top or dress, but a _whole_ outfit, including hair accessories (but it said to take those to the hair dresser so she'd handle your hair with them), and shoes no less. She slipped on the white leather dress that ended mid thy. It has circles cut out of the fabric on her sides from below her bra to where her underwear started, but she was able to hide the two undergarments so she wouldn't have to take them off. From the front it looked like there was half circles cut in it exposing her skin, it was sleeveless and it pink lined all the fabric edges including the him, collar, sleeves, and the two half circle ct outs on her side, and she didn't like it… but the upside was that she wasn't going to have to strip off her cloths or expose anymore then what she had showing already. To complete the outfit there were white Go-Go boots that came up to her knees and had pink circles of different sizes stamped all over them. She like the outfit a lot, despite the fact that she could probably only get away with it here. Then she went to the hair dresser to get her hair done.

It was basically a plain white headband (without any pink) to match the dress. The lady straightened her hair so it looked pretty much paper flat, but it kept it's volume. Her hair was flowing down to her back and was _thick_ as well as pink. It was also her natural color, but she always felt like people thought she was some attention hound or something by having pink hair. When she was finally done she realized that they only put on a little make up, hardly any at all… why?

"Why is there so little make up? I thought for sure that you guys would 'paint' my face like some picture." She asked with a humorous tone.

The hair dresser giggled then said "well if we put too much on it'd make you look ugly, you have such pretty natural features, so there's not a lot we can do to make it better. It's better to have lighter make up anyway. There's less of a chance that it'll melt on your face when you sweat, your face will feel lighter and it'll be easier for you to dance, then when you get home it'll be a breeze to wash off."

Sakura bowed and gave her thanks as she was ushered to the stage. It was 6:30. Her shift started 30 minutes ago, but she thought _"It isn't my fault that the girls with the littlest pieces of clothing take the longest to get dressed!!!"_

When she was about to walk out she felt like a nervous wreck. Then her two fellow stage dancers Ten-Ten and Temari told her "it's all improve, we're almost never in unison unless we practice before hand, and even if guys look at you wrong, they can't touch you, and no matter how much you stink at dancing, if you look sexy the guys totally don't care."

Their words definitely helped her collect herself as they walked out onto the stage, and heard some music and lights flashing every which way. Someone announced their names and they flooded out onto the see through stage rolling, popping, and locking their bodies to the beat.

(This is the music that's playing .com/watch?v=aXiXgZX5SCQ )

Sakura found herself lost in the music and started swaying her hips and rolling her body only to be cheered on by screaming voices yelling "go pinky!!" and "yeah! Go Pepto-Bismol chick!!"

She sort of found the names insulting but she knew that they loved her so she kept going and she thought that for a minute that she was actually loving her job until she looked up. When she saw a see through plexi-glass 'Tupperware' shaped… whatever it was… a room or suite she didn't care. She only saw the boy she bumped into in the hall earlier with his eyes locked on her. She almost froze onstage till Temari hip bumped her to come back down the earth. She lowered her head for a minute and thought _"he probably thinks I'm a slut!! Great!!. . . at least 'I' know I'm still a virgin. . . too bad the rest of the world thinks I'm some whore. . . I'm starting to really hate my job."_

Sasuke was breath taken at the girl he swore he saw earlier, she was gorgeous. He could tell it was her because of that abnormal pink hair. He never got the chance to ask her name, so when he looked at the staff list of the stage dancers there were three, and he knew two, so there'd be an odd one out. His finger scrolled the sheet of paper on a side table near the sofa. Sasuke's eyes widened in satisfaction as he said "Haruno Sakura…" then Neji walked in and waved hello at his friend that he was going to hang with tonight at the club in their 'pad' suspended above the ground over looking the whole place. Sasuke immediately excused himself and found a servant outside and said that he wanted 'Haruno Sakura' from the stage dancers to be brought up to his little plexi-glass room as soon as she was given a break. The servant nodded obediently without a word and walked down the hall to fetch the so called girl.

When Sasuke walked back into the room he saw that the rest of his 'crew' had arrived consisting of Hyuuga Neji, Uzumaki Naruto, and Nara Shikamaru.

"What was that about teme?!?!?!?!" Naruto yelled as Sasuke irritatedly stuck a finger in his ear to rub his shattered ear drum.

"I wanted to meet someone is all, she'll be up here later." Sasuke said in a monotone voice as normal.

Neji turned to him and said "it's that pink girl isn't it?"

Naruto jumped out of his seat and said "oh my gosh!!! I saw her down there!!! She was AMAZING!!!"

Sasuke punched Naruto in the forehead making him sit back down and shut up rubbing his head.

Shikamaru just nodded as if to say 'thanks'

Neji quirked an eyebrow at Sasuke and asked "do you think you could ask to send up Ten-Ten too?"

"Aa" was Sasuke's reply as he walked out of the room to send for both the girls.

"Wait, get Temari too." Shikamaru said as he lazily looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke just nodded this time not bothering to say anything and said to fetch not just Sakura but all three stage girls.

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The lights on the stage went off with the rest of the lights around the club continued to flash and strobe like always. Sakura trailed by Ten-Ten and Temari, all fled behind the giant black curtain to the backstage area to find a servant standing there waiting there for them.

"Good evening ladies, you've been invited to the master's suite, all three of you."

Temari and Ten-Ten clasped hands and jumped up and down squealing like girls who just saw a boy band… It kinda got on Sakura's nerves but she didn't say anything. She was scared that the boy she saw earlier would fire her for the accident in the hallway bumping him on his butt. She just lowered her head and plodded down the hallway behind Ten-Ten and Temari who had locked arms and were skipping singing "were of to see our boy friends! Those wonderful boyfriends of ours!" (wizard of oz tune "yellow brick road" sounding chant, if you can imagine that). It was a rather comical site for the people watching, but Sakura didn't think it to be any laughing matter.

(This is what's playing as their walking into the room .com/watch?v=EbdiNDQ92z8 )

When they walk into the room Temari springs into Shikamaru's lap and Ten-Ten jumps into Neji's, leaving Sakura flustered and confused. Then she saw the boy from earlier who'd apparently called her up there along with her two newfound friends.

She gulped and said "y-you own t-this p-place?!" looking him right in the eye.

He just smirked and nodded then said "my name's Uchiha Sasuke, but I'd prefer that you just call me Sasuke."

She nodded then said "my name's Haru-"

He cut her off saying "Haruno Sakura, I know."

"How did you know my name?!?!?!"

"You're one of my employees, you think I wouldn't know your name?" then he looked in the direction of the employee list on the side table next to one of the sofas.

Sakura just stood there with a shocked look on her face not sure exactly how to take it.

Sasuke didn't like the silence so he said "I was also made aware that you're not like the other girls who work here. You happen to still have something almost all of them have lost from working here."

Sakura blushed because she knew that he was talking about her 'virginity' and wasn't really keen on continuing the conversation but out of frustration she mumbled "is it an employee requirement that I be a whore or something?..."

Then she ate her words as she turned red in the face and earned laughter from everyone in the room. Especially the blond boy who had one finger pointed at her and his other hand on his stomach.

(Play this .com/watch?v=rrvdY5s16lc I'm just trying to keep some 'club like music' flowing while you're reading so it's believable that their in a club. But if you have your own dancing music playlist that makes you want to bust a move, then play it! I'm all for it!)

She decided that she'd had enough of these strange people and their 'less then moral' ways and turned around to leave, but someone grabbed her wrist. She whipped her pink haired head around to see Sasuke with eyes that seemed to be apologetic as he said "please stay…"

Sakura just nodded in defeat and felt so dumb for falling for those eyes of his. Then he took a seat on the sofa. Both sofas in the room were only able to seat two people. One couch had Naruto and Neji with Ten-Ten in his lap, and the other had Sasuke and Shikamaru with Temari in his lap. Sakura didn't know where to sit until Sasuke patted his lap with a smirk.

"Uh…." Sakura said uncertain of what he was 'implying' by that last gesture.

Sasuke's smirk broadened as he said "you know you want to."

"no, actually, I'm not a whore so I don't."

"So you're calling your stage mates whores?"

"No, they told me that these guys are their boyfriends."

"How do you know that?"

"They were talking about it while they were skipping with their arms locked over here."

"Well I'm your boss so if you don't do what I tell you I could fire you."

Sakura's gaze narrowed as she hissed "you wouldn't"

Sasuke just continued to smirk and said "you're in my club now, do you really want to test me and find out?"

Sakura walked over to where Sasuke was while she angrily muttered "there has to be some sort of law against this…"

She turned around with her back to him about to sit in his lap, when she felt herself being pulled backwards, and was drug into his lap with his arms around her waist and the side of his mouth against her neck. She turned crimson red by how bold he was acting.

"What school are you going to go to?" he asked randomly and out of the blue.

"Konoha University… why?"

"That's the same school as me."

"Your point?"

"We might have some classes together don't you think? Sense we _are_ going to go to the same college. Our first day starts tomorrow."

"I know that, but of all the times I've been on campus I've never seen you."

"Well I'm sure you'll be seeing more of me now."

Ten-Ten broke out in fits of laughter screaming "you two act like an old married couple!!!! HAHAHAH!!!!!"

Neji just looked concerned and raised an eyebrow at his suddenly hyper girlfriend, but shrugged off her sudden outburst.

Everyone else in the room joined Ten-Ten in her fits of laughter minus Sasuke, Sakura, and Neji. Those three just had a blank look on their faces that said 'please kill me'.

Sasuke then stood up with his hands still around her waist.

He bent down to her ear and said "dance with me."

It wasn't a question it was an order, and she knew it.

(.com/watch?v=ZGtRshYepWs this is the music they're dancing to, and it's only a few minutes long so just replay it again and again till I say the dancing scene is over.)

He led her to the more empty part of the room where the lights were blazing through the plexi-glass like infrared security beams with rainbow colors. He put his hands on her hips and started making her sway with the beat.

"Want to make this fun?" He asked smirking against the skin of her neck making her shudder, which only made him smirk more.

Sakura gulped then said "uh… how?"

"Glad you asked" was his reply as he put a blind fold on her.

She was startled and yelled "what the hell do you think you're doing?!?!?!"

He bent down to her ear and whispered "your eyes only deceive you, feel the beat of the music with your body, it's stronger."

Sakura didn't even really know this guy. She only met him this afternoon when she ran him over in the hall, and now she's dirty dancing blind folded with him?

Shikamaru raised a brow and said "wow she's the first one to not giggle or try and immediately start seducing you or something. She's actually rather feisty; you really think you can handle her Sasuke?"

Sasuke just smirked at Shikamaru and nodded. He was already seductively running his hand over the front of her cloths from her stomach to her neck making Sakura shudder and turn red in the face. She couldn't help but feel herself being carried away with the beat of the music as she continued to sway her hips with the rhythm. Then she and Sasuke started doing more then swaying. Her back was still to him, but then Sasuke saw how she moving to the beat, and stuck his thigh in between her legs and said "do it" right into her ear.

She immediately started grinding on him from in front making him grunt in pleasure and she just smirked as she took it a step further. Sakura turned around to face him and straddled his leg again and put her arms around his neck and started grinding, but also pressing her chest up against his, which made Sasuke start to get 'aroused' for the first time in a long time, too long in his opinion.

"Told you so" he said to Shikamaru who just had a blank look on his face, but then rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Temari who was still in his lap.

(Dance scenes over you can turn the music off now)

Little did Sakura know that she was playing a very dangerous game with this boy, and she'd already crossed the line of no return. The night went on and the others in the room started to leave. Sakura was off her shift sense thirty minutes ago, but why didn't she leave? Well she was too wrapped up in Sasuke's dancing and his 'moves' to notice. He'd taken the blind fold off her sense it was starting to mess up her hair and she was complaining about it. He figured that if she stayed past her shift he'd already accomplished half his mission. He pressed a button on the wall of the plexi-glass room and purple sheets started folding over the see-through room.

"W-what's that for?"

"It's so we can see out but no one can see in."

"W-why?"

"It's later at night and there are crazy people down there who are stoned and might go hysterical if they see us 'floating'" he lied through his teeth but how was he supposed to tell her that he wanted 'privacy' for what he was planning?

They were finally all alone in the floating room and started dancing dirtier and dirtier until Sasuke could feel her 'wetness' seeping onto his leg while she was grinding. He was definitely glad that she hadn't noticed the giant bulge protruding from his pants.

He finally decided that there'd been enough dancing and stopped and cupped her head in his hands and pressed his lips against hers, and much to his pleasure she didn't protest like she was saying she would earlier. Then when he realized that he'd kissed her senseless he started leading her backwards towards one of the sofas while still claiming her lips with his.

This was an Uchiha talent… being able to kiss women senseless…

When she finally realized what was happening it was too late, she was under him on the sofa. He then started sucking on her neck. She just couldn't bring herself to stop him and started moaning his name which made him smirk with pleasure. She wrapped a leg around each of his sides and linking her feet so her butt would hover two inches off the couch. Sasuke continued to claim her lip and run a hand down her side coming in contact with her exposed sides. He ran his fingers slowly and tenderly over the skin which made her arch her back into him. He took it as a hind to try something one of his friends had told him about. He started thrusting into her even though their cloths were on. She could feel his rock hard sex trying to tear through his cloths and get to hers. She just reciprocated the thrust at the same time as him to make it more powerful. Sasuke decided to reach under her clothing and grab hold of her inner thy and stroked it gently earning him another arch and pelvic thrust from the flustered girl under him. She unraveled her legs from him not being able to hold on any longer because of her head spinning with pleasure.

Sasuke sat up using the arm rest as a back rest and extending his legs all the way out, and pulled her up with him so she right in his lap and her legs were spread apart over the arms rests he was resting his lower back on. He started by unzipping her dress from behind while keeping his eyes on hers. He slowly and gently started to pull her dress up and off her tossing it to the floor exposing her electric yellow laced bra and matching panties. She had a glint of hesitation in her eyes which caught Sasuke's immediate attention, but he decided he would hold out a little longer wondering if it would just go away.

Sakura slowly shied away and covered her half exposed breasts with her arms and leaned forward resting the top of her head right under Sasuke's chin. She slowly started weeping quietly but said "I…"

Sasuke knew she couldn't finish it so he said "hey, it's okay I'm not mad at you. I should've paid more attention to be able to tell that you weren't ready for it. It's not your fault, but I would like it if you could stay over."

Sakura dried her tears a little and raised a brow and said "why?"

Sasuke smirked and said "I lost my teddy bear."

Sakura laughed and almost fell on the floor at his sudden sense of humor. Then she said "promise that you won't push me to do anything?"

"Aa, I don't have a reason to. It's no fun unless you want to too."

"Well I'm sure you've had fun with plenty of other girls so don't think your experience will make me do anything."

"I actually haven't 'done it' with anyone. Tonight would've been a first."

Sakura's eyes widened and she asked "then why did you move so fast with me?"

Sasuke shrugged and looked away and said "I'm not sure… it just felt right…" and he actually wasn't lying through his teeth.

Sakura just smiled and said "fine, but I can't stay at your place. We need to sleep in my dorm."

"Why can't we stay at mine?" Sasuke asked disappointedly.

"Because mine are closer to my classes and I'm sure some of yours, and I can just run downstairs and get some breakfast."

"But isn't yours all girls?"

"Mine's co-ed, so you being in my room or coming out of my room with me won't get you in any trouble with the administration. We're adults after all, but your fan girls might claw my face into scraps."

"Oh… sorry about that…"

"It's okay… I just roll my eyes whenever I hear your name being screamed by a million girls simultaneously and hearing bitch fights all over the place seconds later."

"How nice of you to fawn over me."

"In your dreams Uchiha"

"If you're going to call me 'Uchiha', then I'm going to call you 'yariman'(slut)."

Sakura just twitched and said "fine… Sasuke-kun."

"Better."

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Sakura and Sasuke were walking halls of her dorm. Sakura was wearing her normal cloths so she felt a lot more comfortable in her jeans and plain t-shirt with her unzipped hoodie and skater tennis shoes. Sasuke was somewhat shocked at her appearance. Not in a bad way, he just couldn't get over how she looked sexy in a club costume, and in almost boyish cloths. It was kind of freaking him out. Sakura was sliding the keys into the door knob when she heard a snicker and froze. She looked over in horror when she saw Sassori walking towards them.

The hair on the back of her neck immediately stood up as she snapped and said "stay away from him orange top!"

Sassori just laughed and said "is that any way to treat your beloved older brother? I think not. Besides I don't care if you have sex with him, but Gaara's the one who'll gut him inside out when I tell him. I'd be more bothered about him then me."

Sakura just narrowed her eyes and said "he's just staying over, we already agreed that we wouldn't 'do' anything, and if you tell Gaara nee-chan anything I'll murder you with paper cuts in your sleep."

Sassori laughed and so "OOHHH paper… I'm sooooo scared!!!...." then turned around chuckling and started walking away having the last word saying "and that's what they all say is going to happen… good night Imouto-chan (little sister)"

Sasuke just raised a brow at the boy as he walked away. Apparently it was one of Sakura's older brothers.

They entered the room and Sakura flipped on the light switch to reveal a rather spacious dorm room. It was almost like a condo, but there was hardly a kitchen. It only had a stove, a sink, and a few cabinets and a mini-fridge with a microwave on top of it. However, she did have a small living room with a three person couch, a 60 inch plasma screen TV, a Wii, a coffee table, and some bean bag chairs. Then she had her bedroom with a king sized bed… wow... and her own full sized bathroom off to the side. She even had a one person water-jet tub with a separate walk in shower next to it and a giant mirror and a sink… Sasuke could get used to living in a dorm like this. It was better then his at least. He had to go use a communal bathroom, and he only had a bedroom with a small kitchen space maybe a few cabinets more than hers. But in her bed room she had a large walk in closet as well that didn't seem to be hardly taken up at all. Apparently Sakura didn't go on shopping sprees all the time. When he walked back out he noticed a desk that had a laptop on it and some spread out papers and a shelf above the desk with all the text books for her classes. In between the shelf and the desk there was a bulletin board that had other things attached to it that were mostly not related to school; like random pictures, buttons, bumper stickers, and post-it notes. He found the whole room comfortable sense the walls were painted a cobalt blue and the floors were a black carpet. The bed comforter was navy blue with baby blue sheets and white pillows. He actually liked the place.

Sakura walked in and noticed him looking around with almost a smile on his face. She just shrugged and said "I'm going to go take a shower, I'll be out in a few minutes so just make yourself at home."

Sasuke just shrugged and decided to take that statement as a personal invitation. He got out his cell phone and called his mansion where he was on weekends or when he didn't have class and had the servants bring over his Wii games (sense she had a Wii), some DVDs, CDs, cloths, and toiletries (like his shampoo and hair gel, can't have the chicken ass shaped hair without the gel xD).

When Sakura got out of the shower she walked into the room to find Sasuke laying out a pair of his pajamas sense he was going to take a shower too. Then something snapped I her head… where did they come from?! When he came over here he only had the cloths on his back!

Sakura just asked in a tone trying not to sound annoyed "where did _those_ come from?!" opps… that was definitely an irritated sound…

"I had them brought over, go look in the closet."

Sakura was afraid to but just opened the door ignoring the fact that she was still only in a towel and started yelling "why are your cloths in the other half of my closet?! And where did they come from?!"

"Half your closet was empty, and again, I had them brought over."

Sakura just rolled her eyes and said "are you moving in with me or something?!"

"Aa, you said 'make yourself at home'"

"That was an expression you dumbass!"

"Well I like this place better then my dorm, and living on campus has more benefits then living off campus."

Sakura knew that he wasn't leaving and she couldn't just kick her boss's ass out of the door. She sighed in defeat and said "fine, on one condition."

"Name it."

"You can't do anything I don't want you, and you know what I 'm talking about when I say that. You can't have more then two friends over at a time without me knowing. You can't throw any of my things away or sell them. You can't use the stove."

"What's up with the stove rule?"

"I don't want you burning my dorm room to ashes."

"Can I use the microwave?"

"If you're actually heating something up to eat that isn't some experiment or prank, then yes... we're in college Sasuke… I know boys do stupid things with just about every piece of electronical equipment… sometimes they don't even need technology to do something stupid…"

Sasuke just smirked and nodded meaning that he agreed to the 'terms' of moving in.

Sakura was tired and said "I'm seriously wiped out from work… between non stop dancing... and dealing with you" she narrowed her eyes at him remembering his 'moves' and 'advances' on her then just gave up and walked over to the side of the bed and collapsed clutching the towel hoping to just fall asleep and wake up in reality.

Sasuke only sighed and asked "so are we dating?"

Sakura just sleepily said "can we talk tomorrow? I really just want to sleep."

"Aa."

Then Sasuke went off to the showers and felt the water to be relaxing as it burned his skin and soothed his aches and pains. When he got out and walked back into the room he saw that Sakura had just fallen asleep in her bath towel and smirked at how cute it was. He walked over and got dressed in his boxers and he thought that Sakura needed to put something on too. He searched through he drawers and pulled out a pair of plain white panties, and then he couldn't find pajamas so he just got one of his large t shirts to put on her. He kept the towel on her and slid her arms through the sleeves then pulled the shirt down before sliding the towel off and he looked away as he put her legs into the underwear and slid them on her. He felt like he'd done a decent job in making her 'snugable' sense she would be mad if he tried to cuddle her in a towel. He pulled back the covers and slid them both underneath when he felt her stir then say "I was asleep….uuuuuuuugh" he couldn't help but think that her complaining sounded sexy. Then she turned around and faced him then asked half asleep "how the hell did I get dressed in pajamas?"

Sasuke just smirked and said "I couldn't just leave you in a bath towel so I got one of my large t-shirts and a pair of your plain white undies, and slid them on without seeing anything, I swear."

She just yawned and said "I believe you, now shut up and let me get some sleep."

He just smirked as she cuddled up against his warm body laying her head against his chest facing him. He just pulled her closer and dug his nose into her hair and sniffed every bit of strawberry scented shampoo that his nose could handle. Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at the digital clock on the wall in the room that read "12am" well it wasn't that bad. They could still get nine hours of sleep before classes tomorrow. He was just happy to be able to spend more time with this girl and not have her shove him away, but at the same time not smother him. He found it…. oddly refreshing…

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_**To Be Continued. . . . .**_

A/N: Thanks for taking the time for reading ALL of this. Anyway next chapter I'll try and add some more humor for more entertainment xD in the meantime please write a review! THANKS! ^_^


	2. My Life's a Bad Sitcom

**Kat (me): **Hey Sasuke guess what?!?!?!

**Sasuke:** …

**Kat (me):** GUESS DAMNIT!!!!!

**Sasuke: **you don't own Naruto?...

**Kat (me):** BINGO!!!!!!!

**Sakura:** and I thought _**I**_ was loud!....

**Kat (me):** sorry… I'll start taking my medicine… =}… I _promise!!_ DATTEBAYO!!

Sry it took so freaking long to update!!! I'm SOOOOO SORRY!!!!! (I'll explain below after the story as well as reply to your reviews on the previous chapter! Thanks a TON for all the positive comments!!!!! I didn't get any negative ones =D)

*the lights dim with a single spot light on a navy blue and pink camo patterned heart*

Presenting….

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Sakura's final class ended because her teacher had finally finished his two hour lecture on the Pythagorean Theorem. She's never endured torture like that in her life before. She was walking down the hall when she saw her older brother Gaara. Gaara was a year older than her, and Sassori was a year older then Gaara (and two years older than her). She was basically the over protected little sister.

"Who's he?" Gaara asked with his eyes narrowed slightly to the side of her head.

"Who's-" she turned around and froze seeing Sasuke walk up right beside her.

Sasuke moved his gaze from Sakura to the orange-top boy with a sinister glare, and said "I'm her boy friend." Then put his arm around her and smirked defiantly.

"_This must be the other one"_ he thought to himself.

Gaara just furrowed his brows in the center of his forehead asking "since when?" in a murderous yet soft tone turning to Sakura as if saying 'spill… or you die….'

She gulped and said "Sassori talked to you, didn't he?..."

"_That sniveling snitch of a bastard brother!!!!"_ she screamed inside her head.

Gaara only nodded in reply, relaxed his facial features, and said "do what you want, but I don't like him." Gaara looked at Sasuke with a blank expression then with a grunt he turned his back to them and walked away down the long hallway and turned a corner escaping their line of vision.

Sasuke just raised his brow and asked "is that his way of giving us his blessing?"

Sakura just blinked a few times at her brother's reatreating figure then quietly said "I… have no idea…"

"Well, come on. I'll take you to lunch."

"Is that an invitation or an order?"

"Aa."

Sakura just rolled her eyes then took his hand he held out for her. The two walked down the hall towards the cafeteria.

The silence was too much for Sakura so she asked "so who else goes to our university?"

Without turning his head Sasuke said "all the people you met along with me at work last night."

"Even Temari-chan and Ten-Ten-chan?"

"Hn."

"Are they eating lunch about now?"

"Who knows" he said dryly.

Sakura rolled her eyes _again_ at his vagueness. They entered the cafeteria and took a seat at a two-person booth. Both compared schedules and that they only had one class different. At least that's what Sasuke told her. She never got to see his schedule.

"_UGH!!!! He's such a shittakaburri (smart ass) and a baka at that!!!"_ her inner self rioted.

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After lunch Sasuke told her that it was a Friday, so the club opened at five, an hour earlier than usual. Sakura still had one more class to go to, dancing. She never got to see if Sasuke had the same dance class at her, but it was only a fleeting thought. She was too busy walking there with her gym bag musing of all the cool new moves she would learn. That was what she was at college for anyway, music and dance. She just also had to take core classes (like math… bleck!)

She was walking towards the studio with her gym bag containing two water bottles, a gym towel, change of cloths, and a bath towel (in case she wanted to use the communal showers there so she wouldn't have to walk back to her dorm all disgusting and sweaty). She entered the large building looking at her schedule she saw "Dance – Anko and Dedara – room 749". Saying the numbers of the rooms lining the hall mentally, she finally came arcoss room 749". She entered the room with maybe ten people inside it. Sakura didn't want to get on anyone's bad side, so she ignored their presence and avoided eye contact. Warming up herself was boring, but she had her ipod in her ears to keep her world from going blank. Eventually she was free styling off to the side away from the others. The instructors were going to arrive in thirty minutes, so she had time to 'goof off' dancing.

Sakura was listening to "Love and Beyond" by "Jackie Boyz". She was swinging her hips to the beat of the music when she felt someone come up behind her, and she froze.

"Heya pinky, you're kinda cute." A sly voice said whispering into her ear.

Sakura shuddered from the breath brushing the side of her face. She began quivering and was paralyzed by fear. The man didn't fail to take notice of this and began making advances on her by running his hand up her thigh. Sakura was clasping both of her hands over her chest, and her eyes were shut so tightly that it looked like her eyelids were going to burst. Right as the man was about to reach under the hem of her pleated mini-skirt a cold voice barked "get your _filthy_ hands _**off**_ her!"

The man put his hands in the air as if he was caught by the police and backed away slowly then turned around to join a random group of various students chatting. Sakura hadn't budged an inch and was still shivering from the after shock.

Then as the touch of lust left her, a touch of warmth and comfort took its place. Sakura didn't know what was happening or who had saved her, but she was so glad to be saved that she flung her arms around the man who'd ordered the other to leave. Sakura opened her eyes to see a black shirt and spiky blond hair tickling her face. She took a step back to see cerulean orbs looking worriedly into her sea-foam green ones.

"Are you hurt? Are you okay? Do you want me to beat the shit out of that bastard?!" The boy asked frantically without any breaks in his speaking.

"Naruto!" she yelled happily, hugged him again, then she whispered "really, I'm ok… thanks…"

Naruto smiled and both brought their attention to the door when Sasuke stormed in. It seemed he was already in a 'I'm-kicking-the-first-person's-ass-who-wrongs-me' mood.

"dobe…" he said murderously trying to keep his cool.

"wait! Teme! You don't understand!" Naruto yelled taking a step back for every step Sasuke took towards him.

Sakura jumped inbetween the two when they were a few feet apar and said "Naruto saved me… listen to him…"

Sasuke's eyes softened a tad and Naruto led him over to the side of the studio to explain all the events that occurred while he was on his way.

Sasuke and Nartuo were standing away from the other students. Sasuke's eyes that seemed to show hints of crimson soon turned murderously as he looked at the floor and walked away from Naruo.

-

"ALRIGHT!!! Listen up weaklings! While you're in this class… you're under MY control!!" a purple haired lady shouted at the rest of the student who were startled at her entrance.

Then a blond haired man who's face was half covered by stepped out from behind her and said "Anko stop scaring the children."

Anko chibi pouted and walked away to face the class head on. There was a wall of mirrors and then the rest were simply hardwood walls like the floor. A pretty simple room.

"I think of dancing as a form of dancing and it's supposed to EXPLODE with personality!!! So you have to make it your own!!!" Dedara said as he walked over to stand next to Anko.

"I find it as a way to vent and communicate feelings, both good and bad." Anko added.

All the class just stood facing the two teachers listening attentively. Then the two teachers faced each other and got in a starting dancing pose for a two person couples' dance. Dedara snapped his fingers twice as music started to play and he and Anko moved arcoss the floor gracefully. Eventually they turned to the class and said "now it's you guys' turn to show us what you got!! So pick a partner!!"

Sakura looked around wondering if she was going to get 'picked last' or get left out like she always had been when she was little.

"_STUPID PINK HAIR!!!!!_" she yelled to herself.

Then she caught her breath as she saw the Uchiha walking towards her. His steady foot steps and stoic expression unwavering.

"Mind if I 'communicate' with you?" he asked sarcastically.

She just giggled as her cheeks flushed pink and raised a hand to cover her lips, the other free hand taking the hand of the Uchiha's that was held out to her. They walked to the side where other people were who were partnered leaving the blond baka and a shy overly introverted dark haired girl left to be partners. Neither asked, they just remained silent in understanding of the situation.

"Now that that's over I want you to dance as best as you can to the music we pick! And NO complaints OR excusses!!!!" Anko yelled as she walked over to a boom box and pressed a button. And "baby" by Justin Bieber started playing. All the students looked at their two teachers in absolute shock with 'are-you-serious?!" written all over everyone of their faces. Even the Uchiha had an expression on his face that would be explained as 'priceless'.

"DANCE!!!" they both yelled.

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(One shower and a two hour nap later).

Sakura yawned smashing her alarm-clock that was screeching "wake up nebosuke!!!! *$%&)(^~`#!!!!!!!!"

Sasuke just walked into the room dressed in a black button up shirt with the top half buttons undone revealing a navy blue undershirt. He was also sporting blue white wash jeans with holes in the knees, and then navy blue high tops. He stared bewildered at the pink haired girl lying on the floor in a mess of sheets and pillows who sounded like someone had shot her.

"You're going to be late for work…" he stated flatly

"Like I care…" she retorted regaining her balance and facing him eyes half closed with a messy bed head and oversized pajamas.

"Put your hair up and get some jeans on. You can just get dressed in something at work."

"Ugh…"

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"He did what?!?!" Temari screeched backstage at Sakura who was telling her about her 'fun time' dealing with the Uchiha with a superiority complex.

"Tema-chan stop yelling!! It's making my ears bleed if the blasting music hasn't already!!"

"Sorry… it's just odd for ANY boy to act like that… especially the human ice-cube."

"So that's what his nick name is!"

"wha?"

"Nara-san told me that people called him a funny nick name sometimes to describe is 'chill' personality"

"Oh…"

"YOUR ON IN FIVE!!!!" a random voice yelled at the two girls.

"Hey where's Ten-chan?" Sakura asked looking around them for any sign of the brunette.

"I think Neji told me that she's home with a cold."

"awwww *chibi pout* I wanted to tell her about everything too!!"

"Don't worry, she's coming back."

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The curtains closed covering the plexi-glass stage. The crowd's cheering could still be heard backstage though. The two girls chuckled and flushed pink as Temari said "well another night, another dance shift over and done with!"

"Hai." Sakura said not knowing anything else to add.

As the two girls had changed back into their normal cloths a servant approached them "you ladies know where to do after you're done don't you?" she asked teasingly.

"hai! We do! Arigato!" they replied in unison smiling.

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"Took you long enough." A dark haired male said as dryly as any human ever could.

Sakura simply glared at him then said "I'm going home."

"I'm your boss… you'll go home when I tell you."

"The last thing I need is an over demanding boss with an ego telling me what I can and can't do." She said dismissively walking out of the room.

"What's got into _her_?" Neji asked with a quirked brow.

Sasuke shrugged and said "ruff day I guess."

"Compliments of you if you hadn't guessed" Temari added.

Everyone smirked in silence mocking the Uchiha's recent behavior.

"Doubt it. I've really only helped her lately. I think I know why but it's not my information to give." He replied to Temari's whitty come back.

Naruto just added "yeah I know what happened to but you'll just have to ask her. If you ask me I think she just needs some extra sleep to re-coup from the

Wonderful-life-of-a-college-student'"

Everyone snickered then Sasuke said "I don't want her walking on campus at night by herself. I know she's capable of getting herself home, but I want to be sure, so Hyuuga you're in charge for the rest of the night."

Neji nodded in response and Naruto jumped up yelling "hold it teme!!!! What about me?!?!!?! I'm the best friend!!!! Why don't _**I**_ get to be in charge?!?!?!"

"You're irresponsible and too much of a party animal. You'll run this place bankrupt before the night's over" Sasuke snapped at him.

And with that last word he chased after his lovely rosy haired female compainion.

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"Shut-up." Sasuke said unsympathetically as he heard rustling and mumbling from the other side of the bed behind him. When he turned around he realized that she was actually sleep.

He say up and turned the bed-stand light on to see the girl tossing and turning then suddenly yelling "NO!!!!"

"_No what?... No you don't want the lights on?..."_ Sasuke thought sarcastically to himself.

He placed a hand on the girl's wide forehead and suddenly she stopped squirming and was miraculously quiet. The second Sasuke removed his hand the girl began her hysterics just as before.

"This is annoying" he said frustrated.

The girl squeezed her eyes more shut then fluttered them open to see Sasuke sitting up looking at her.

"Why did you wake me up!?" she sneered at him.

"Actually… you woke _me_ up." He stated 'matter-of-fact'ly

She just ignored the comment and fell asleep again. This time she was sleeping soundly.

"_finally… good grief… I need to spike her warm milk with sleeping aides next time…"_ Sasuke thought malevolently.

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_**to be continued….**_

So sorry for taking so much time to write this. And I'm sorry if it's a little short and disappointing, but I didn't have much time to write. Only two hours. Because the laptop I was originally using… crashed… just my luck!! Anyways there's no telling when I'm going to update again but don't get upset I'll see what I can do. I personally enjoy writing this story a lot. I can be perverted AND romantic AND funny. Unlike my chick flick other ones I get to have my comic relief with this one. I also hope that you all continue to read my coming chapters!!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! =DDD

(here's my reply to your comments!)

**Angel Hidden In The Shadows: **glad you can't wait for this lol xD sorry that you wound up having to wait but I'll se what I can do to fix that =)

**kimimakio:** thanks! =)

**Pinky Kuran:** also thanks!! Glad to hear so many awesome comments!!! =DD

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only:** bwuahahahaha!!! IKR?!?!?! I love that about it too!!! I just personally enjoy that kind of humor xDDD anways!!! I hope you think the same about this one too!!! Tell me what you think ok?!

**Hasumi-chan16:** thanks! I always start good, I just hope that it still STAYS good hahahahaha =)

**SasuSaku Forever and Ever:** hahaha thanks! I think it's pretty hot too (but my opinion is rather bias on that) and I also figured she wouldn't fall for a 'play boy' so why not make him wait for her?! o_0 bwuahaha well just tell me what you think on this chapter too!!! ;)

**Twisted Musalih:** I did update =)

**WhiteRose95:** I hope I sparked your curiosity even more with this chapter!!! =DDD and I'm glad that you like everything about it!!! I still hope you like it!!! I promise that the next chapter will be a million times better!!!! I PROOMMIIIISSSSSEEEEE!!!!! xD


	3. To Hell With Surprises

**Disclaimer:** I _**DO NOT**_ own Naruto in any way shape or form. I just like manipulating it with my creativity =)

I've been getting better with updating haha!! And I hope that this makes up for the short chapter that I did previously. I just found that the best way to write is when I'm bored in school (freshman classes suck, especially honors classes!). I just randomly get a thought and say "oh!" then have everyone look at me funny while my pen seems to be lighting the paper I'm writing-on on-fire lol xD

Anyways! I'm loving the spring weather! I got to wear shorts for the first time today!!

but overall it wasn't much fun today

I'll tell you guys a short funny story about my day first (if you don't want to know about it then you can just scroll down to where it says Chapter 3)

Well I stay up all night the night before writing a stupid paper on Romeo and Juliet and I went to bed at like 2am and couldn't sleep AT ALL!!! then I wake up the next morning feeling like a zombie, but it would be the last day I would get to see my boy friend until half way through spring break so I make my family late because I put thought into what I was wearing and put on make-up (not alot, but I normally don't wear any at all anyway). then I turn my phone on and get a text from him that says "sorry won't be at school today, my family's going to stone mountain" and I'm like thinking "_I just got dressed up nicely for absolutely nothing... great...._" Then it's off to school! whoop-do-freaking- do! and I couldn't concentrate on ANYTHING and I kept getting head akes and it was a FEB (friday enrichment block) and we got out of school at 12:45, but my day still stunk caz when I got home at like 1 (i have to walk a mile home, half of it's uphil) I was freaking tired, dehydrated, and when I was looking around it was like I was playing guitar hero for like 3 hours strait. So I try to open the door... it's locked.... and I can't find my house keys. So I call my brother and he won't answer his phone even after I leave him four voice mails and call him 23 times (yea, I looked at my phone to get those numbers). Then I call my mom who hangs up on me caz she says she in a meeting. I was stuck in the heat and my day couldn't get any worse... oh.... it did... My dogs inside the house were barking because they knew I was outside so then they wind up setting the house alarm off and i'm like "WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!?!?!" caz i didn't even touch the house. So I call my mom and i'm like "I SEAR (sirens in backround) I DIDN'T (more sirens) TOUCH ANYTHING!!!!" and she calls the alarm company who had cops dispatched so I wouldn't get arrested, but they couldn't turn the alarm off remotely from their little station place. So I just drop to my knees facing my house and said "WHY?!?!?!!" and started crying. What made it worse is that my neighbor's were all out doing yard work, washing cars, getting mail, watching their little children play in the street. They were all looking at me like "?! o_0" and I'm just breaking down caz my day keeps getting worse and worse and idk what the hell to do!!!!

So after about 45minutes the alarm finally times out and stops going "#)%*#^$!)#$*%#)$*%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and I take out my phone and text a few friends what had just happened and my boy friend felt bad and I just said that it wasn't his fault. Then a few friends were like "awwww :'(" and then some were like "are you okay?!" and then one of my friends from my church who goes to my rival high school (so she lives near-by) offered to come over and I told her that she didn't have to but she could if she wanted to so she asks her mom and she's like 18 and a sr. she's four years older than me so she drives in her car over to my house and sees my smudged make-up and puffy face and hands me a water (I was outside so I had no access to it... but I'm so glad she bought some!) and I leap forward screaming "YOUR MY SAVIOR!!!!!", hug her, and take the water and start chugging it. And she's like "I know *smiles*" and we sat outside talking. I told her about my crummy day and she told me about her plans for spring break. Then finally about an hour later when it was about 4pm my brother finally comes home. I'd been outside for four hours. Then Kate left because she was supposed to meet her friend at a lake way far north of here (I kinda didn't know that i'd made her late for going to her spring break vacation till she told me _after_ she came =}) gotta love her though. She brought me water and listened to my sarcastic narration of my day which made both of us laugh (i needed it). So yeah.... now two hours later i'm typing my fan fiction for chapter three =) went through hell today.... still haven't fixed my make-up.... but screw that i'm going to update sense I have chapter three written =))) ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(and i'm replying to your comments again below same as last time ;D)

**A/N: **_**PLEASE R&R**_

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**Chapter 3**

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Sakura was sitting on a park bench underneath an old cherry blossom tree. It was almost mid spring and they were in full bloom. The gentle breeze swept her bangs sideways. She was currently enjoying the three days off Sasuke had given her. It was her 2nd of the three, and it was also spring break (how appropriate for the release date of this xD), so she didn't have school. She was wondering why Sasuke had given her time off. He wasn't the kind of softy who randomly gives his employees leisure time if they seemed tired and she was no exception. Once again, Sakura shrugged the thought off and began reminiscing in the scent of the falling cherry blossom petals.

"Sakura Chan!" Sakura-Chan!" a loud voice screamed.

Sakura twitched at the disturbance then opened her eyes to see a panting Naruto with his hands on his knees right in front of her.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked confused.

"yeah"

"why are you here?" and why were you running?"

"I needed to ask you something!"

"what?" she snapped.

"are you busy with anything important tomorrow?" 

Sakura put her finger on her chin and looked upwards then said "nope. nothing. why?"

And before she knew it the blond boy took off running in the same direction he came.

"weird..." Sakura said as she relaxed on the park bench hoping for no more disturbances.

She say for another thirty minutes then got up and walked a few city blocks to get a cup of tea in her favorite small café that always had soft pianist playing soothing music. She got a decaf chai-tea latté and had a seat at a two person table facing the pianist. There were maybe three other people inside. One off to the side reading a news paper. The other two blabbing and laughing without a care in the world.

Right as she was about to take a sip the café door burst open with three girls screaming "SAKURA-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The cup of latté that was by Sakura's mouth abruptly slipped from her hands and fell to the floor making a splattered mess. The pianist was startled too sense he hit random keys on accident that sounded like nails on a chalk board. The sound of the loud voices and pianist startled the other customers too who just stared.

Sakura looked up from the mess she'd made from dropping her latté and raised a brow as she asked "Temari?!... Ten-Ten?!... Ino?!..." blinking multiple times as if she were seeing things.

"yea girl!!" Temari squealed with Ino while Ten-Ten just smiled.

Sakura's face went blank as she thought _"first Naruto... now these girls... just how many more people are going to scream my name and mob me?!"_

Sakura opened her mouth then paused for a second before she said "don't tell me you guys are here to ask me a random question and run off too?"

All three girls looked puzzled at each other then looked back at Sakura still mildly stunned.

"sort of..." Ten-Ten said with her finger on her chin in a thinking pose.

"but we're taking you with us!!!!!!" Ino added loud as ever while she grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her out of the chair running towards the door of the café.

Once they were out in the street Sakura yelled "STOP!!!!!!!!!"

Ino slowed down and let go of a panting Sakura with her hands on her knees hunched over.

Sakura tried to catch her breath as she attempted screaming "what! *huff* the! *huff huff* hell do you! *huff* think! *huff* you're! *huff huff huff* DOING?!?!?!?!?!"

The three girls said "we're going to take you shopping!"

Sakura, who'd finally caught her breath said "I don't have any money to spend right now."

Temari rolled her eyes putting her hands on her hips she said "that's why _we_ are taking you shopping."

Sakura just huffed then told herself _"there's no way in hell I'm going to win this fight..."_

Sakura let out a sigh of defeat as Ten-Ten locked arms with her and said "come on Sakura-chan lighten up!"

Temari took Sakura's other arm as Ino walked in front of the three 'leading-the-way' to Sakura's worst nightmare... shopping...

-

"We're here! We're here! _**WOOT!**_" Ino yelled as the four entered the mall.

"Long walk huh?" Ten-Ten asked as she saw Sakura's droopy face.

Sakura looked up confused then said "nah, just not a fan of shopping."

Ino gasped at Sakura's statement and shrieked "WHAT?!"

"Ino pipe down" Temari snapped. "you're attracting too much attention"

"don't I always?" Ino said confidently while flipping her hair... typical.

The three rolled their eyes at her superiority complex, which Ino noticed and made a sour expression.

"We're updating your wardrobe" Ino said in a 'matter-of-fact' tone which meant it was final.

Sakura knew there was no stopping them, but she couldn't help but argue "I like being comfortable!!!"

Ten-Ten shook her head then said "there's ways to be comfortable _and_ still look like a woman."

"Are you implying that I look like a _man_?!?!" Sakura gasped in shock.

Sakura was too busy arguing with her friends' decision to 'update' her wardrobe to notice that her friends had walked her into a lingerie store.

Ino stopped in the middle of the store and said "we start with the first pieces of clothing you put on and we'll end with the last pieces."

Sakura's eyes went wide in horror as she looked around the store and while her friends were giggling leading her to a dressing room. (no homo FYI, caz they don't go _in_ there with her. They just make her trying on a whole bunch of stuff.)

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The four walked out of the store with a bag full of new undergarments. Sakura was wearing one of them right then. Ino threw out the undergarments she was wearing earlier.

"Told you!" Ino scoffed "that push up does wonders."

Sakura didn't even bother to snap back. She decided to play it safe and go along with the hysterical blond's antics... for now. After all, she had known her since high school. Ino hadn't changed a bit. She was still as arrogant and stubborn as ever, not to mention a shop-a-holic.

"Where are we going next?" Temari asked curiously.

Ino stopped in front of a sign that had all the stores' names and locations. She squinted her eyes scrutinizing the list them smirked, snapped her fingers, and said "Konoha Hawk" (take off of "American Eagle" for those of you who don't get it).

Sakura cringed at the name of the store. All the snotty girls (including Ino) that she'd ever been around always wore cloths from there. She'd even seen Sasuke and Naruto wearing shirt and pants from there. Sakura was never a fan of "name brand" clothing, but she didn't have much of a choice now.

The four approached the store as Ino said "forehead, you know where to go."

Sakura fumed at the nick name and trudged off to the dressing rooms grumbling "I hate this..."

Ino was thumbing through racks of girls' polo shirts (sense Sakura was a bit of a tomboy Ino didn't want to push her luck) when she felt someone tap her shoulder. When she turned around her eyes met onyx ones.

"Sasuke-kun!" she squeaked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes then asked "so? how is she?"

Ino chuckled then winked saying "you'll just have to wait and see tomorrow!"

Sasuke grunted closing his eyes and crossing his arms then said "fine... I better go before she sees me or she might catch on..."

Ino nodded and Sasuke turned around to leave. As the last trace of his charcoal black hair disappeared, Sakura burst out of the dressing room yelling "HAPPY?!?!?!?!" as she sported an outfit picked out by the blond herself to attempt to portray a sexier feminine side of Sakura.

Ino shook her head at her mal-tempered friend thinking _"I still have a __**whole day**__ of this to go..."_

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Sakura plopped down on her bed exhausted. Her frinds took her to the mall for the _whole_ day then came to her dorm and torched her old cloths. Sakura was no longer wearing the jeans and loose blouse with sandals she had on at the beginning of the day. She was sporting a "Konoha Hawk" girls' polo and a jean skirt from "Leaf Republic" (take off of "Banana Republic" for those of you who know that store) then topped off with her new undergarments from "Shinobi Secret" (do I have to tell you what this is a take off of? if it isn't utterly OBVIOUS it's a take off of "Victoria's Secret"). Then Ino bought her a pair of 'girls' tennis shoes.

"What did I do to deserve this?..." she huffed, oblivious that Sasuke was standing in the doorway of the room.

"Maybe you're so ungrateful that the universe want to give you more until you are" he said jokingly but in his signature emotionless tone of voice.

Sakura jolted from the sudden and unexpected answer and fell on the floor with a "what the- ?! *THUD!!!!!*"

She sat up and got on her knees next to the bed folding her arms on the comforter on her side glaring at Sasuke who was on the other side across from her.

"you're mean..." she pouted quietly.

"you make it too easy"

"who asked you?!" she hissed

"no one, but we both know you were going to"

_"he's so full of himself!!!"_ she scoffed mentally, adding _"conceited jerk!!!!"_

"Oyasuminasai, gaki" Sasuke said turning off his light next to his side of the bed.

Sakura twitched at being called a 'brat'. But she couldn't go to sleep yet. She was still in her new cloths. She walked into the closet and looked where her pajamas were supposed to be, but found half see through night gowns with various cuts and embroidered designs. She narrowed her eyes glaring at the skimpy articles of clothing hoping they would catch on fire. But her focus broke as she saw a yellow sticky note on one of them.

_Dear Sakura-chan,_

_please don't be mad._

_we love you,_

_-Temari, Ino, and Ten-Ten_

_p.s. go have some __fun__ with Sasuke-kun!_

Sakura threw the note as if it were on fire, and watched in spiral down to the floor.

"disgusting!..." she hissed.

Sakura sighed in defeat knowing the only other thing she would actually be able to 'sleep' in would be her own skin and nothing else. That thought disturbed her even further. When she put the black half see through gown on she was about to walk out when she saw something on the back of the door that caught her attention. She closed the door the rest of the way and saw a beautiful magenta dress with dark blue diagonal stripes. It was strapless and had sequence randomly sown in (blending with whatever color they were in). The skirt resembled a poofy ballerina tutu and the hem came mid-thigh. When she was running her hand down the dress she found yet another note from her friends.

_Dearest Sakura-chan,_

_We sorta bought this behind your back sense you wouldn't have let us get it because of the price tag (we ripped it off hehe!). But we want you to wear it tomorrow. We know you might look a little out of place, but trust us, you won't be sorry!_

_3 Love 3,_

_-Ino, Temari, and Ten-Ten_

_p.s. (from Ino): if you don't wear it I'll turn you into the custody of the scientific community so they can do research on that abnormally wide forehead of yours!!_

Sakura was mad at Ino's idle threat, but something inside her (not inner Sakura) told her to wear the dress.

_"Say YES to the DRESS!!!"_ it screamed. (hahaha that's a TV show xD)

Sakura smirked and shook her head then thought _"who not..."_

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_"I feel like a runaway pixie..."_ Sakura complained mentally while walking down the street the following afternoon.

She had her hair up in a pretty bun with blue chopsticks and beadwork to match the dress. She had her bangs down to framer her face and then she had on white 'go-go' style boots that almost came up to her knees.

Sakura was lost in her own thoughts, ignoring the funny looks people were giving her. She was about to turn a street corner when a white van pulled up in front of her and pulled her helplessly inside. She was blindfolded before she could see their faces. Then her ears were plugged, but she heard one man on teh phone before her world went silent in addition to the darkness.

_"__**WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!**__"_ she screamed mentally.

She would've screamed out loud if it weren't for a man restraining her arms behind her and a piece of cloth going through her mouth.

She felt the van stop moments later and she was drug forward out of the vehicle rough enough for her to wince in pain. Sakura felt herself suddenly inside an air conditioned building and the ruff hold on her was released, so she ran for it.

_"I don't care if I'm blind and def!"_ she screamed mentally, adding _"I'm getting the hell away from this place!"_

But before she could make it ten feet, she hit a wall and fell backwards. She tried to gain her balance, but found someone helping her up. She thought it was the same name who held her arms behind her back from before, but this man only held one of her arms and not with a forceful grip that made her wince either. It almost felt... good. He led her down several hallways, at least to Sakura it felt that way. Suddenly she stopped moving and felt the ear plugs being pulled out. She could barely pick-up a few scattered whispers, but other than that, she heard nothing. She felt the cloth being taken off that was wrapped around her mouth. She was about to yell but someone 'shushed' in her ear, meaning 'be quiet'. Then her blindfold was lifted off and her eyes widened.

_**"SUPPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"**_ a room full of familiar faces yelled.

"huh?!" Sakura looked stunned and confused.

She turned around to face the man she felt leading her to discover it was Sasuke. She blushed from the realization then asked "what is all this?!"

Sasuke furrowed his brows then said "you must've run into that wall too hard... that you'd forget about your own birthday."

Sakura frowned at the comment, then realized it was true. She _had_ forgotten her own birthday. She had wondered why everyone was acting so strange. First Sasuke giving her time off, then Naruto asking her about her plans and zooming off, and then the massive shopping spree with Ino, Temari, and Ten-Ten. But one thing was bugging her, how did Sasuke know about her birthday? Sakura let the thought pass as she looked around the rented ball room. She wasn't sure how far in debt she'd fall after this party. Everyone was semi-formally dressed. It was sort of like a slightly more casual prom. With pretty dresses that you wouldn't wear every day, but they were knee length, and not all the boys were wear ties, but they all had on dress slacks. (some khaki, some black, and some white, they varied in color FYI).

"How much is this gunna cost?!" she asked rhetorically under her breath.

"Nothing" a voice whispered from behind her ear.

She shuttered and turned around to face SAsuke.

"I ought to wipe that damn arrogant smirk off your face!!" she hissed.

Sasuke raised a brow then said "after everything I've done for you?"

"Like?" she said sarcastically.

"You're three days off work, this surprise party, and that shopping spree. They were all funded by _me_. But I obviously wasn't going to take you shopping so I asked your friends to take you."

"_YOU_paid for that?!?!" she gawked.

"Hn."

Sakura shook her head then said "you could've told me all this sooner."

"Then it wouldn't be a surprise"

She just rolled her eyes at him then walked towards her three closest friends.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" they all shouted.

Sakura just smiled and said "arigato".

"so?! so?! tell us about Sasuke-kun!" Ino giddily squeaked.

Sakura's face went blank with confusion as she said "what?..."

All three girls looked stunned then asked "you arn't dating him?!"

Sakura shook her head then said "we're just really close friends."

Sasuke could overhear their conversation, and boy did that last statement hit him in the gut. 'just friends'.... _"bullshit"_ he thought. How could they be 'just friends'?! They practically almost had sex and he was living in her dorm room with her!! That's NOT 'just friends', but Sasuke didn't want to press the matter. It was her birthday. _"let her say whatever the hell she wants...."_ he mentally scoffed.

Sakura and the three girls then went to the food table out of earshot distance from Sasuke.

When they got closer Sakura shrieked in delight "STRAWBERRIES!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!! **THERE'S A MILLION OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**"

Sasuke heard her from the other side of the ballroom and smirked. He knew she was crazy for strawberries. He noticed how she always had some in the fridge. She had strawberry flavored ice cream, strawberry milk, strawberry shampoo, and strawberry scented laundry detergent with countless other things that were strawberry related. He could definitely take a hint that this girl was insane over strawberries.

"How does he know all this stuff?!" Sakura gasped taking a plate and greedily snatching ten or so strawberries.

She then felt a hand on her shoulder, and a voice said "I told him".

Sakura turned around to come face to face with her older brother Sassori and her other brother Gaara passively standing next to him.

"happy birthday little sis!" Sassori said happily as he shoved a medium sized box in Sakura's face.

She handed her plate of strawberries to Ten-Ten and took the box that read "Sanin Jewelry Co." on the box. It was one of the most illustrious jewelry companies in Japan. Sakura looked up to Sassori who was smiling. She flipped open the lid to see a beautiful pink stone with flawless clarity shaped like a cherry blossom petal attached to a sterling silver chain. Then there were two earrings in the middle of the box that had smaller shaped petals on them to match the necklace.

She gasped and said "oh! Sassori! you shouldn't have!"

Her friends looked over her shoulder and oogled at the jewelry set as Sassori said "I'm not crazy you know? Gaara pitched in too. The present is from **both** of us."

Sakura handed the present to Ino who's eyes were wide trying to take in the splendor of the jewelry. Sakura then enveloped both of her brothers in a bear hug shouting "thank you _so_ much!!"

Her two brothers smiled, yes, even Gaara.

Once she released her two brothers Gaara regained his passive and pensive exterior look then said "I take it back"

Sakura looked confused then asked "what?..."

"I take it back" he restated what he said, adding "what I said about Uchiha. If he thinks this highly of you, to throw you a party and treat you like this, then I take back what I said about not liking him."

Sakura smiled and hugged her brother and said "thank you..." she broke the hug then remembered when Gaara first met him, so she added "and we arn't dating. He was 'pulling-your-chain'. We're really just close friends."

Gaara's expression suddenly turned grim as he asked "then why is he living in your dorm room with you?"

"He told me it was more convenient."

"I'm sure it is for him... in more ways then one..."

"WHAT?!?!?!"

"If you guys are only friends, then you won't mind me visiting will you?"

"of course not Gaara-nee-kun!"

-

Sakura continued to walk around and chat with all of her friends she hadn't seen since she graduated high school last year. How Sasuke managed all of this, she didn't know. She was just happy and enjoying her 19th birthday. Sasuke had rented a ball room, made the occasion semi-formal, and even got a live DJ and a food bar with plenty of strawberries.

Sakura was sitting and chatting with Ino and Temari when Sasuke walked over and asked "so birthday girl, do you think I could have a dance?"

Sakura laughed as her friends were making 'shoo' gestures implying 'go dance with your god damn boyfirend-to-be!!!!!!' and said "of course!"

(play "Why Don't You & I" by Santana ft. Alex Band)

Sakura followed Sasuke out to the middle of the dance floor filled with dancing couples.

Sasuke took Sakura's hand in one of his and put the other around her waist. She put her free hand on his shoulder as the two swayed to the beat. Sakura was taken away by the lyrics of the song.

_Since the moment I spotted you  
Like walking 'round with little wings on my shoes  
My stomach's filled with the butterflies  
And it's alright  
Bouncing round from cloud to cloud  
I got the feelin' like I'm never gonna come down  
If I said I didn't like it then you know I'd lied_

She was lying... to herself... she did like being with him. But she didn't know if he was only after her for her looks that first night they met.... or if he saw something inside her. She defiantly liked him for who he is on the inside. He cared enough to throw her a freaking party! He totally gets brownie points for that.

_Every time I try to talk to you  
I get tongue-tied  
Turns out, everything I say to you  
Comes out wrong and never comes out right_

It did never come out right. She always had problems telling the people closest to her how she felt. Sasuke was no exception.

_So I'll say why don't you and I get together an' take on the world, be together forever  
Heads we will and tails we'll try again  
So I say why don't you and I hold each other, fly to the moon  
and straight on to heaven  
Cause without you they're never gunna let me in_

Sasuke listened to the last three lines (of the above lyric snip-it) and pulled her closer smelling her hair. He knew he would never get heaven without her, and he didn't intend on going there without her.

Sakura was continuing to enjoy the moment, as much as she would never admit it to her three busy body on looking friends. She enjoyed Sasuke holding her like this. It didn't make her lustful, or feel 'complete' as some girls would put it. It... just made her happy.... she didn't know why, and she gave up trying to figure it out when the song finally ended.

"Sakura-chan!!" a loud voice yelled.

Sakura hugged Sasuke and thanked him for the dance then faced Naruto who was shouting at her.

"what is it Naruto?" she asked

"can I dance with you too?!?!" he asked excitedly.

Sakura laughed at his eagerness and how all her guy friends were asking her dance, but she said "sure" and nodding her head smiling.

"dattebayo!!" Naruto yelled at he took her hand in his and put his other hand on her hip and she put her free hand on his shoulder.

As they danced he apologized for running off the other day and Sakura told him it was no big deal it just confused her. Then Naruto started telling her funny stories from when he and Sasuke were in middle school and high school. Sakura's eyes almost watered from laughing so hard when Naruto told her about the time in 7th grade when Sasuke looked so dumb acting all 'cool' when he had walked out of the bathroom with toilet paper hanging out of the back of his pants.

Eventually their dance ended too. Naruto asked for another one, but Sakura told him that she was tired and just wanted to sit down and relax for a few minutes. Naruto shrugged and walked her back to the table where the rest of her friends were and ran off to find Hinata to see if she would dance with him.

-

A little later on a giant cake with 19 candles was brought into the room. Everyone made way for it and then they placed it on the table that held all the food where there was a special place set aside for it. The cake was white with cherry blossom petals that were made from frosting scattered all over it and there was gold writing that said "Happy Birthday Sakura" in cursive. Sakura attempted to stand on her tippy toes to blow the candles out, but she was too short. The cake was _tall_. It had three layers to it (like those tall cakes that look like three separate cakes stacked on top of each other).

She continued to try and magically grow taller to blow out her candles while all of her friends sang the 'happy birthday' song to her. At the end of the song she felt herself being lifted off the ground by a strong pair of arms around her waist. She quickly blew out her candles as the crowd of friends cheered and was lowered back down the ground. She turned around to see that Sasuke was the one who had lifter her up to blow out her candles but remembered she was supposed to make a birthday wish.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to think, she was just so happy that it spilled over.

"I... don't know what to wish for...." she whispered hoarsely, adding "I've already gotten more then I could've wanted... I got a party with all my friends, beautiful jewelry, nice cloths.... I'm so happy.... so happy that I don't know what to wish for...."

"Then wish for things to never change" Ten-Ten suggested.

"but things _always_ change weather you want them to or not. It would take divine intervention for things to never change" Sakura replied.

"Then wish for _loooooove_" Temari said slightly suggestively.

Sakura just laughed then said "I already have that!! It's what friends are for!! we all love each other. haha"

Then Ino smiled and draped an arm across Sakura's shoulders standing next to her and said "then how about you keep your birthday wish and use it when you think of something."

"I can do that?!" Sakura asked surprised.

Ino shrugged then mockingly said "I'm sure the magic wishing fountain in the sky won't mind hahaha"

Sakura laughed too then nodded and said "I think that's the smartest thing you've ever suggested Ino-pig."

Ino twitched at her friend's comment, but said "anytime hippo-forehead."

Sakura twitched too and everyone could feel the tension, but then suddenly the two girls just burst out laughing and everyone let out the breath they'd been holding in.

Tears of joy still rolled down Sakura's face as she wiped them away quickly more just kept coming. This was the happiest she'd ever been. She only had a few friends in high school who rarely spent time with her and seemed to just use her as a tool (not Ino), but these other friends she'd been making lately, they were different. They genuinely _**cared**_ about her.

Sasuke handed her a pocket handkerchief to wipe her tears away with.

"sorry..." she whispered then smiled in a slight thanks.

Sasuke smirked then said "there's nothing wrong with crying when you're happy."

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**To be continued....**

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**Angel Hidden In The Shadows:** haha I'm glad =) tell me if this chapter makes up for the wait!! I don't want you going all emo on me and slitting your wrists!! xDDD

**Twisted Musalih:** glad =)

**SasuSaku Forever and Ever:** haha I had to have just a slight sadist/sabotage type thing in there =)

**C.A.M.O.E.1 and Only:** hahaha ikr? that's why I did that. They're a 'unique' kind of bi-polar xDDD and I think I could make that happen.... what do you mean when you say "stupid"? caz I can take that in 100 different directions xDDD

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Thank you all so much for reading this!!! Ya'll are the reason I write ;). It's always nice to know that my work is appreciated. Anyways... It's spring break so I'm definitely going to get some writing done. I'll try to update as often as I can, but I still haven't gotten the computer issue resolved. The lap top I was ordinarily using is well.... deceased.... and my mom's desktop (what I'm using at the moment) is hardly accessible because my mom's over protective and a freak about it. I hope that I won't keep you wait too long anyway =)))

Tell me if this chapter makes up for the very poorly written short one that was from the last time =))


	4. Awkward Demise

**Disclaimer: **I DON'T own Naruto. I'm just a freak about it =)

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Well sense it's spring break I've been having more time to write =) and actually I'm enjoying it despite how crappy my spring break is (allowing me to write) because my boyfriend is busy with family from out NYC (and I live in GA, so they live WAY far away haha). Then sense my family's boring we're not going anywhere for spring break. I mean it's stinking Easter Sunday and I'm writing because I have nothing better to do other than stuff my face with candy (as tempting as it is I'm trying to not gain weight. I should lose a few pounds, and not through barfing or starving, I'm just trying to cut sweets, snacks, and simple sugars out as much as possible and eating slightly smaller portions, so I'm going to lose weight the 'right' way (= ). The weather's beautiful outside, but the only thing I'd want to do is pick flowers, and I did that yesterday =) I made the most BEAUTIFUL flower arrangements out of the daffodils, wild flowers, and some sort of flower that's as big around as your palm and looks sort of like a rose but it grows on a really tall bush and comes in white, light pink, and magenta. Anyways, enough about my somewhat stinky spring break. Hope that ya'll enjoy the chapter!!!!! =))) PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^_^

and if you have some extra time check out my other two fan fics, well there might be a 3rd by the time you read this. I've been secretly keeping one under wraps so I'd already have like 4 chapters pre-written and I'll I'd have to do is upload every few days, so even if I fall behind in writing I wouldn't really have to keep you all waiting that long to read the next chapter. Anways. please check them out. The one I've been working on the most called "Love Comes Softly" has like... no reviews other than "porque lo es en ingles?".... no comment.....

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**L**

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It had been a few months since Sakura's surprise party, and the end of the semester was getting closer. Sakura had always aced her finals and mid-terms in high school, but she knew college was a whole new kind of academic nightmare. She knew that her English definitely needed some work, she only had a B in that class (it would be like a D to a normal student if it gives you a hint of her overachiever complex). What made it worse was that Sasuke seemed to not even try and his classes, and got even better grades than her. He didn't seem to care either way if he made an A or a C, they were both passing, so he didn't care about the difference. Sakura was somewhat annoyed from it and always pressed her nose in a textbook to try and outsmart the Uchiha. She had a difficult time grasping the concept that Sasuke could be smarter than _her_.

"you gunna stay in here like a no life studying all night?" Sasuke looked over to Sakura who was in a small room where employees could just relax.

She had to study, at least that's what she kept telling herself. She only scowled at his comment then returned to her book. She was at work and had a thirty minute break before she had to go back out and dance. She was taking every second she could manage to cram as much information into that wide foreheaded-brain of hers. Sasuke had invited her to study up where everyone else was and 'socialize', something she rarely did. She knew that if she did that... well.... she wouldn't be studying at all... because Sasuke was a serious distractions. Even as he was standing in the doorway she couldn't think strait, well at least not enough to memorize or absorb anything from the text book.

_"what the hell?"_ she thought, _"why can't I think when he's around?!..."_

Sakura would never admit it out loud, but she subconsciously knew that she had feelings for him. That's why she couldn't really think clearly with him around, because all of her thoughts of other things like studying and school just auto-switched to a dark-haired stunningly handsome man.

"...what?" Sasuke asked with a raised brow snapping Sakura back to reality from her inward confession.

She realized she had been staring at him since he asked her if she was going to stay in the room and study all night, opps...

Sakura blushed then shook her head saying "nothing..."

Sasuke smirked then said "you're falling for me aren't you?"

Sakura's face turned tomato red from embarrassment and some anger as she yelled "what kind of conceited question is _that_?!?!?!?!?!"

Sasuke shrugged then turned to walk away, but looked over his shoulder and said "an honest one" and walked away back towards his suite overlooking the club.

Sakura pulled at her hair in frustration and said "why?! why does he mess with me like that?!.... he should know that it hurts....."

What Sakura didn't know was that Sasuke hadn't turned the corner to go back to his suite. He was standing just feet away from the cracked door, hearing every word. He desperately wanted to just re-enter the room and tell her exactly how he felt right there and then, but he knew she'd just get overwhelmed. He would have to wait for a while until she was in a better mood, and not stressed with exams. He just lowered his head not knowing what to do... he knew Sakura wasn't the kind of girl who would say anything herself. If anyone was going to say anything, it'd have to be him.

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"Sakura... put that away already..." Sasuke grunted getting annoyed with Sakura's constant studying.

Truthfully he wasn't annoyed of her constant studying itself. He was annoyed that because of her studying she wasn't paying _any_ attention to _him_. What Sasuke didn't know was that whenever he was within 50 feet of her she actually wasn't studying. She was trying, but because of him she couldn't concentrate.

Finally Sakura gave up trying and just threw the textbook ten feet, but didn't damage it. All it did was make a really loud *THUD!!*. Sasuke rolled his eyes at Sakura's childish behavior then walked out of the mini kitchen into the living room and sat next to her on the couch (in the kitchen the wall between it and the living room was sort of one of those 'open-bar' sort of think that made the space more unified instead of separated, so Sasuke could see into the living room, and Sakura would be able to see into the kitchen. If that makes any sort of picture in your head....).

"you okay?..." Sasuke asked eyeing the figure sitting in front of her.

All he heard were grumbles coming from the girl with a pillow in front of her face. Sasuke just crossed his arms and scowled then said "tell me _without_ the pillow in your face."

Sakura removed the pillow, revealing her tear-streaked face. She couldn't help but cry... she was so stressed out that it was just too much.

Sakura took an attempted at a deep breath but it was broken because of her crying and she said "I'm....just.... really stressed...."

Sasuke sighed then said "you try too hard. You're going to pass exams. They're only _slightly_ harder than high school exams. Neji told me. He said you would have to be a borderline retard, or not pay any attention in class to fail it. There's nothing on it that you haven't covered."

Sakura's shoulders loosened at Sasuke comforting words of encouragement making her a little less uneasy about exams in a few days, but she still had doubts... "but... I'm not naturally smart like you..."

"but you're more determined and more applied than I am, and that's what matters for exams. If you want to pass, you will."

Sakura bit her lip then said "fine... I'll take your word for it...."

Sasuke just remained passive than said "if you stress out... you won't be able to think strait, you'll be tired, and that will make you fail... so just chill out."

"HOW?!?!" Sakura shrieked.

'relax' just wasn't in her vocabulary. there was 'rest' and 'sleep' but not 'relax'.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her high pitched squeaky tone of voice, and decided to take action instead of just arguing. He pulled her up from her lying position crying into a pillow and into his lap. She was sitting with her back against his stomach. He was using the arm rest of the couch as a backrest and turned the TV on. It was some random stunt show with stupid people doing stupid and retartedly dangerous things. Sakura was startled a little by Sasuke's sudden action, but didn't do anything to stop him. After all, he wasn't doing anything 'bad' be was just trying to get her to relax and stop crying. Sakura inwardly shrugged and thought _"if he does anything 'bad' I can just get up and leave and tell him to quit messing with my emotions... even though he kind of already is..."_

Sasuke seeing that the show finally got her _almost_ full attention, started rubbing her shoulders to help loosen up some of the tension in her muscles sense she was stressing so much. She was so uptight that the knots in her muscles had knots. Sasuke was surprised that someone could be _that_ uptight. He kept rubbing her shoulders and her back and noticed how she slowly slumped over _"it's working"_ he mentally smirked.

Slowly she started to droop her eyes shut and found herself as melty as Silly Putty. Eventually she wound up using Sasuke's chest as a pillow as he continued to rub her shoulders.

_"mission accomplished"_ he told himself as he noticed Sakura was completely 'relaxed' for probably the first time in her life.

He stopped rubbing her shoulders, and pulled her up so her head was right under his chin. He noticed how her eyes were closed so she must be asleep. He wrapped her arms around her waist and turned his attention to the TV screen while using the top of Sakura's head as a pillow. Eventually he felt himself being tempted to fall asleep and turned the TV off (so it wouldn't wake either of them up, and to lower the electricity bill), and fell asleep exactly where he was.

_"I want it to always be like this... her in my arms..."_ he thought mentally.

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"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry!" Sasuke hissed.

"I told you! No matter how many times you apologize it still doesn't fix what happened!" Sakura snapped back.

"well how is it 'bad' what happened?!"

Flash Back - to this morning

Sakura opened her eyes to see she was in Sasuke's lap, and his arms were around her waist. She was too shocked to move, but realized that he was awake too. His breathing was steady, but it was frequent enough to the point where it was obvious he wasn't asleep. She closed her eyes tightly as Sasuke tightened his grip around her waist and leaned forward whispering in her ear "good morning nebosuke-chan"

Sakura screeched and jumped out of Sasuke's lap landing on her face on the floor.

end of flashback

"It.... was awkward....." Sakura said as she turned to walk away down the hall way. _"anywhere is better than here!"_ she thought.

Sasuke wasn't done yet. He jogged after her and grabbed her wrist making her jump a little. He noticed her tense reaction and thought better so he let her wrist go and just walked down the hall forgetting what he was going to say. He was frustrated with her at the moment. He didn't think that last night was a big deal. After all they did share the same queen sized bed, but then again they didn't 'cuddle'. They just stayed on their respective sides. But still, they were technically living together. That in of itself was a reason to think that they were in a serious relationship, yet she still wants to cling to the 'just friends' title. It frustrated Sasuke to no end. He was so frustrated that as he walked down the hall in the direction towards the exit of the building he ran a hand through his hair and huffed deeply. Lucky for Sasuke, (- extreme sarcasm implied) Naruto was standing in the lobby talking to some random girl.

Naruto saw a frustrated Sasuke walking towards the door of the building, and bid the person he was talking to farewell. Then turning towards Sasuke he ran towards his seemingly distraught friend yelling "oi!! SASUKE-TEME!!!!! WAIT!!!!"

Sasuke heard his obnoxious blond friend, but chose to ignore him and continued walking down the side walk of the university campus. A few moments later Sasuke found himself on the ground lying on his stomach with Naruto sitting on top of him.

"get off dobe!!!" he grunted.

Naruto only sheepishly grinned and said "as long as you tell me what the hell's your problem... _and_ treat me to ramen..."

Sasuke winced at the second part of Naruto's request. Naruto could put away ramen like Sakura put away strawberries. It was amazing how much Naruto could eat, and not gag. He never threw up his ramen, even after he'd had 20+ bowls. To Sasuke, that was just gross. Even the amount of strawberries Sakura could put away made him wince in disgust a little bit, but Sakura was eating fruit, so it wasn't as bad in her case. Naruto on the other hand, had no excuse for his gluttonous behavior towards ramen, a.k.a. junk food. That's pretty much all ramen was. Sure it had a little nutritional value, but not much.

"Fine" Sasuke grunted trying to swat Naruto off his back.

Naruto grinned so wide Sasuke was expecting his face to split in two. Sasuke grunted again walking forward towards the on-campus ramen shop in the university's food court with Naruto walking along right next to him.

"so theme...." Naruto began "you gunna tell me or what?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's impatience and just grunted again.

Naruto was becoming irritated with his best friend then said "I know what button to press" with a smirk.

Sasuke raised a brow at his friend, but still kept his irritated expression.

Naruto jumped in front of his friend making him come to a halt, poked his chest with his index finger, then bluntly said "Sakura."

Sasuke frowned, swatted Naruto's finger away, and crossed his arms in extreme irritation. Naruto just sheepishly grinned and said "she told me about the whole 'just friends' thing. I know stuff that _you_ don't have a clue about. At least as far as I know you don't. Because Sakura-chan and I _are_ 'just friends' and are comfortable that way. She tells me a whole bunch of stuff that you would probably want to know. That's why I wanted you to treat me to Ramen too, so I could talk to you."

Sasuke just continued scowling, but less fiercely after what Naruto had said. They two boys walked up to the ramen shop counter and Naruto went first yelling "I'll take the fish cake ramen" and Sasuke saying "veggie ramen please".

The bell ran a few minutes later and the boys picked up their ramen and found a table to sit at in the food court.

Sasuke looked up out of the glass dome that was over the eating area and watched as a few birds flew in a "V" formation.

"oi... theme..... themeeeee.... THEME!!!!" Naruto yelled snapping his fingers at his friend hoping to zone him back into reality.

Sasuke just scowled at his friend then said "things are just getting more complicated... with the whole 'just friends' thing..."

Naruto lowered his head and for the first time didn't say anything or comment, he had a serious expression, and Sasuke took his silence as his queue to continue.

"She... I heard her at the club one night when I walked in on her studying and she just told me that she had to study and all so I just shrugged... then she stared at me for what I counted to be about fifteen seconds, then when I snap her back to reality she said it was nothing. So I just tease her about 'falling for me' and she just gets all defensive... making the whole situation even more funny.... her face was crimson from embarrassment. I just decided to leave her alone, so I pretend to walk down the hall but stand near the cracked door listening to her as she said ' why?! why does he mess with me like that?!.... he should know that it hurts.....'..... I then figured out that she _does_ have feelings for me. I wanted to walk back in and find some way to confess and come clean with her, but she's so stressed with exams that I know it'd only end badly. That and she feels like she needs to conceal her feelings for me when I make it obvious that I like her... the whole thing's just a giant mess and last night made it worse...."

Naruto raised a brow as his friend trailed off after the word 'worse'. He gestured for him to continue, waiting for Sasuke to finish before giving his 'professional' opinion and advice.

Sasuke rolled his eyes then added "she was so stressed for exams that she started crying. I felt bad and told her what Neji told me about how easy they were. She seemed to relax a tad, but I doubt she hardly _ever_ relaxes anyway... so I pulled her into my lap, turned the TV on, and messaged her shoulders to help her get rid of some of the tension in her muscles she created herself. I was shocked at how uptight she was. Her knots had knots.... but eventually she went as limp as a log and fell asleep in my arms. I decided against moving her and turned the TV off after a while and fell asleep on the couch there with her in my arms. Then when she wakes up she freaks out...."

Naruto had to hold back a slight stifle of laughter but just shook his head smiling and said "she told me the same thing, and she's sorry she over reacted, but too stubborn to tell you."

Sasuke raised a brow and said "she told you?.....when?"

"this morning before 2nd block classes.

"oh..."

"she cares about you... more than you know..."

"then why doesn't she act like it?"

"she doesn't think your attachment to her, is as strong as hers to you. She doesn't want to end up hurt. I know you won't hurt her, but she doesn't know that. She doesn't know you like I do. She's only known you for a couple months, I've known you my whole life. But even I couldn't convince her to believe that you liked her a whole lot too. You just have to ignore her walls she puts up and ram right through them. It might seem cruel in theory, but if you do it eventually she'll drop the sheraide."

Sasuke nodded in approval of the plan then asked "what if she thinks I'm kidding when I look her in the eye and say I'm dead serious and she's just too scared to admit it?"

Naruto smirked then said "then I'll just have to clean up whatever mess you made"

Sasuke smirked as his blond companion sitting across from him at the two person table. He could always rely on Naruto to fix social problems he created. Naruto always kept his word, so Sasuke knew that if all went wrong (hopefully not) he could rely on Naruto to make things better again. Sakura seemed to like Naruto a lot if she came to him for advice too. Why didn't she go to Sasuke? He was closer in reach. She lived with him. She shared more than half her day with him. Why not him? She was scared that if she spent _too_ much time with him that it would make it seem like she had feelings for him. She did, but she didn't want everyone else to know that. Especially him, because if _he_ found out, she'd never hear the end of it. It's bad enough that he teases her and plays with her emotions when he _doesn't_ know (as far as Sakura knows anyway), so it'd be hell if he did know.

Sasuke stood up then left his smirking blond $20 to knock himself with out on ramen. Naruto smiled and said "arigato Sasuke-theme!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes then walked away towards his and Sakura's dorm room. He had to do _something_. He had to fix this mess he'd made.

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"get ready for work" he said emotionlessly as he walked into the door.

After getting no response he looked over to see Sakura passed out on the sofa with a text book over her face. Sasuke scowled and though _"I thought I told her to relax and not worry about exams... at least she's sleeping... that's rare for me to see her sleeping...."_

Sasuke shook her awake startling her. She flew up making the text book fall to the floor with a *THUD!!*

"I'm going to be late for work!!!!" she screamed after she'd seen the time on the electric clock that was built into the cable box below the TV.

Sasuke sweat dropped at how fast she'd flown up from the couch and ran into the room after_ just_ waking up. Normally he'd have to splash water on her.

_"was she even sleeping at all?"_ he wondered.

She flew out of the room moments later in her work outfit which made Sasuke blush. She was wearing a emerald strapless dress that ended a few inches above her knees and the seam under her bust had beautiful neon green beadwork on it. Her shoes were pink to match her hair. Her lips were a metallic pink that wasn't obnoxious, but reflected her 'bright' personality. She was wearing slight eye liner, but barely noticeable, and then some mascara to lengthen her lash length, but only slightly. Her hair was done up in a half ponytail style leaving her bangs free to frame her face.

Sakura noticed Sasuke staring at her and raised a brow then smirked asking "you like what you see?" in a teasing manner.

Sasuke grunted in displeasure as she was somehow turning him on without her knowing it, and it irritated him. So he did something he probably shouldn't have. When Sakura turned around and started walking towards the door to leave Sasuke came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her close, then whispered into her ear saying "you're so cruel messing with me like that" flicking her ear with his tongue.

_"I hope __that__ brakes her barrier"_ Sasuke mentally scoffed.

Sakura shuttered then fell to her knees hugging herself then whispered "and you call _me_ cruel..." but Sasuke heard her.

He decided not to reply to her and just helped her up off the floor.

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Whenever Sakura wasn't onstage dancing and entertaining she was backstage hugging herself facing a wall trying not to cry. She did shed a few tears, but the thought of her makeup melting stopped her. Then when Ten-Ten and Temari noticed her they tried to comfort her and get her to stop whatever kind of sulking she was doing... but it was to no avail. Sakura continued her somewhat 'emo' ways and stayed facing the wall hugging herself.

"Sasuke..." the two girls hissed under their breath. They still had 15 minutes left in their break and they'd had it with trying to fix Sakura, so they were going to go straight to the source.

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_**To Be Continued....**_

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I'm glad I got to update in the next few days!!! I plan on updating again sometimes this week. Hopefully soon ;D

in the meantime please PLEASE _**PLEASEEEE**_ check out my other two fan fics I have on here =} thanks a ton!!! please R&R!!!!!


	5. My Girl

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto

Hey guys!!! I'm sorry that this story was the last of the 4 to get updated, but I didn't have enough time last night I stayed up till 12:30am as it is. Then I wake up at 5:50am because I have school. I HATE being a freshman High Schools sucks rotten eggs!!!!!!! ARRGGGH!!!!!

Anyways I hope you all forgive me and enjoy this chapter! Thanks for all the great reviews!!! This one surprisingly has the most!! I'll reply to them below as always ;) thanks for all the support guys! It roxx my soxx to know I have so many readers!! ^_^

Please R&R !!!!!! ^(^0^)^

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LOVE

_L_

_I_

_K_

_E_

**THIS**

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"Sasuke!!" Temari and Ten-Ten yelled in unison pointing their pointer fingers in his face.

Sasuke raised a brow and pushed away the fingers sarcastically asking "may I help you?"

Temari grinded her teeth in anger while Ten-Ten scowled and yelled "What did you do to Sakura-chan?!?!?!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, he didn't have time for this. Unnoticed to the others, Naruto slipped out of the room. He walked down the hall way and downstairs to where the backstage area was. He stood on his tippy-toes to look at the tops of the heads of all the girls on the premises. Pink hair wouldn't be _that_ hard to spot. To his surprise, none of the girls in the room had pink hair. He scratched the back of his head and looked from side to side while he walked forward to take a better look. When he passed one of the dressing rooms he heard a quiet sniffle and a quiet sob coming from the second to last dressing room. He opened the door to see Sakura sitting with her back to him. Her knees were tucked up to her chest with her face buried in them. She was obviously crying, but heard Naruto and turned around. She saw him and her eyes widened for a minute. He mascara and eye liner streaked face was frightening, but it only served of evidence of how sad she was.

"Oh Sakura-chan…" Naruto said sympathetically as he kneeled down next to her hugging her gently as she sobbed on his new Konoha Hawk orange polo.

He wasn't happy that her make up was staining it, but he decided he could either get another one or have his polo professionally cleaned. Either way, it didn't matter to him. What mattered most at the moment to him was Sakura. She was still crying as he gently lifted her off the floor and walked out with her.

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Temari opened her mouth to speak but Sasuke stuck out his hand like 'stop' and said "Don't accuse me of doing anything to her. If she's like that, then ask her first."

Ten-Ten and Temari shouted "we _have_ asked her!! She won't answer us!!"

Sasuke shrugged then said "then she'll get over it."

"Get over _what_ exactly?" Temari asked with a raised brow.

Ten-Ten furrowed her brows so much it even shocked Neji as she said "what do you mean '_she'll get over it_'?! You're her boyfriend!! The fact that you don't care is sad!!!"

Sasuke bit his lower lip then said "get over whatever's making her act all emo, and I'm _not_ her boyfriend. She doesn't want me to be. I could've sworn that we were, but who knows anymore. It's her problem to fix now, not mine."

Everyone in the room stifled a gasp. Sasuke never was a warm person, but everyone knew he had a soft spot for Sakura. Sakura was the only person he'd ever acted warm towards. He could be friendly, yes, but he wasn't the kind of person to act caring and comforting. He'd let you cry on his shoulder, but he wouldn't wrap his arm around you and tell you everything would be okay. He would only do that for Sakura, and now he's saying 'it's her problem'?!?! This just couldn't be!

Sasuke grunted in annoyance as his cell went off. He walked over and say he had a text message from Naruto.

_I found Sakura-chan in one of the dressing rooms crying her make-up off. No joke, it's all 'streaky' down her face. I'm taking her home, don't worry teme I'm not stealing her from you! Haha_

–_Naruto_

Sasuke smirked. It's just like Naruto to go ahead and start fixing the messes he made. Sasuke wasn't always a screw up. In fact, it was Naruto who was _usually_ the screw up. The only thing Naruto didn't screw up with was socializing and friends. He never made a mistake there. Sasuke however, did everything perfectly _but_ socializing and friends. He couldn't make _enough_ mistakes in that department. It irritated him how he'd always save Naruto's butt with grades and when he got in trouble, but Naruto just had to save his sorry ass from social disaster. Naruto always used to call him 'ice-cube' because he was so cold towards people. Everyone was surprised that Naruto even found/saw a heart in the cold Uchiha.

Sasuke smirked broadly at all the memories of his social disasters then snapped back to reality where Ten-Ten and Temari, his two employees, were standing impatiently glaring at him.

Sasuke cleared his throat then said "don't worry about Sakura, she's with Naruto."

Kiba (a new friend he made at the university) smirked then said "I think that knuckle head is trying to steal your girl."

Sasuke sighed then pinched the sin in between his eyes mumbling "she's not _my_ girl."

Kiba sensed the tension in the room and chuckled softly as a bright idea popped into his head.

He stood up and walked towards Sasuke singing "I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day."

Neji smirked then added "when it's cold outside, I got the month of May."

Sasuke rolled his eyes as the two girls chuckled and started joining in singing "well I bet you'll say, 'what can make me feel this way?'"

Neji and Kiba started singing as Temari and Ten-Ten echoed (*echo*) "my girl *my girl my girl*, talking bout my girl *my girl*"

Shikamaru rubbed the sides of his head mumbling "what a drag… you people are so strange."

"At least we're having fun!" Temari teased pulling and eye lid down sticking her tongue out at her boyfriend.

Shikamaru smirked then said "fine then, do what you want, you troublesome woman."

Temari twitched and bonked Shikamaru on the head grumbling "the _nerve_…"

Neji shook his head and said "you two never change."

Ten-Ten giggled pecking Neji on the cheek saying "our break's almost up we better hurry! Come on Temari!"

Temari nodded and the two girls shuffled out of the room. Neji turned to Sasuke with a curious look like he wasn't buying the 'she'll get over it' act. He knew Sasuke was slightly worried. But since he got that text from Naruto his nerves seemed a little bit more at ease.

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Naruto was driving Sakura back to the university dorms when he looked over at her in the passenger's seat and asked "so what happened?"

Sakura remained silent and whispered barely above a breathing sound "Sasuke…"

Naruto wasn't the best person at hearing thanks to always blasting his iPod in his ears, but he caught what Sakura had said and let out a sighed the suggested 'you're both the same'.

Sakura raised a brow at Naruto and asked "nani?"

Naruto shrugged then said "you two are almost _exactly_ the same. Recklessly messing with each other flirting unaware of each other's feelings. It's just frustrating how much you don't realize Sasuke cares."

Sakura rolled her eyes then said "if he didn't care then why the hell would he throw me a surprise birthday party that was actually classy?!"

Naruto kept his eyes on the road for both their sakes and huffed "exactly… but he doesn't like you as a friend like you've deluded yourself into thinking."

Sakura wiped some of the tears away looking at Naruto with a puzzled expression. Naruto didn't have to look over to know she was looking at him funny.

"He doesn't _like_ you" Naruto said flat out earning a gasp from Sakura. Then he rolled his eyes and said "he _loves_ you."

Sakura stifled a gasp and pointed at Naruto yelling "does not! Stop getting my hopes up like that!"

Naruto shook his head with a smirk, for once, _he_ wasn't being the idiot.

"Sakura-chan…" he whispered softly, "you _have_ to believe me. Just ask him or something! I'm not lying! He thinks that _you_ don't like _him_! And now you're telling me that you think _he_ doesn't like _you_?!?!"

Sakura bit her lower lip and nodded her head. Naruto just scoffed as he pulled into the parking lot of the dormitories and helped Sakura out of the car.

"Just trust me" he said giving a thumbs up towards Sakura.

She smiled uncertainly and nodded. Sakura really wanted to believe Naruto, but then again, he was a total goof ball.

The two walked down the halls aligned with doors and numbers. Sakura came to her door and pulled out her keys to open it. As soon as she stepped inside she turned to face Naruto.

"Would you like to come inside for a few minutes?" she asked.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and sheepishly grinned as he said "no, it's okay. Sasuke-teme would kill me if I did."

Sakura giggled then bid him good night as she closed the door.

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Sasuke was getting ready to leave the club because he had classes tomorrow. He grabbed his jacket and put his cell phone in his pocket as he left the suite. He closed and locked the door behind him and began walking down the hall way. He was concerned about Sakura. He didn't know what the heck was wrong with her, and it was so bad that Naruto decided to just take her back to the dorm. That counts for something.

He got into the car and drove off towards the dorms. When he arrived and walked through the door all the lights were out except a small lamp in the living room. He shrugged then walked into the bedroom to find Sakura still in her work cloths passed out on the bed. Sasuke sighed then shook her awake.

Sakura jumped a little then said "why did you wake me up?!"

Sasuke shrugged saying "you need to wash your makeup off and get in your pajamas."

Sakura snorted, then scoffed "what are you!? My mother?!"

Sasuke scowled then said "like hell I am… just go get dressed in pajamas."

Sakura trudged off towards the closet after washing her makeup off. Sasuke had hopped into the shower and was turning the water on to cleanse himself. When Sakura came out of the closet she was wearing her underwear and one of Sasuke's t-shirts that basically ended mid-thigh on her and looked like a really baggy dress. Sakura heard the water on in the shower and just lied back on the bed with her hands behind her head. She had one knee bent and the other leg strait as she sighed and looked at the ceiling and counted how many water stain (from rain leaking in), and discolorations there were in the white paint.

Sasuke came out in his baggy navy blue plad pajama pants with a white t-shirt. He was rubbing his head with a towel and took it off to see Sakura in _his_ shirt.

"What are you doing?" he seethed from behind his clenched teeth.

Sakura gave him a puzzled look, so he clarified "you're wearing _my_ shirt…"

Sakura rolled her eyes then said "you don't want to know what my pajamas look like. I'll give you a hint… as long as you're in here… they're _never_ going to be worn."

Sasuke raised a brow then said "oh really? Well if I hide my t-shirts from you what then?"

Sakura scoffed then said "I'd find them!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her childish behavior then told her to get some sleep sense she was OBVIOUSLY tired from having to deal with stressful events from that day. But Sasuke couldn't go to sleep until he figured something out.

"Why were you crying a while ago?" He asked as he turned his bedside light off and snuggled under the covers.

Sakura bit her lower lip hesitant to reply as she remembered her and Naruto's conversation earlier.

"I… I was crying… because you were pretty reckless before we went to work…"

Sasuke raised a brow and asked "what are you talking about?"

Sakura didn't say anything out loud but was thinking _"the fact that you don't even understand when you're being reckless with my emotions makes it even __worse__"_

Sasuke took the silence as an 'I'm not going to answer you' reply and smirked leaning close to her ear whispering "what did you mean by being 'reckless'?"

Sakura jumped from the sudden shock of a whisper in her ear that she wasn't expecting and fell off the bed. She hit the floor and Sasuke chuckled asking if she was alright. Sakura didn't answer him so he got concerned if she was unconscious from the fall or something. When he looked over the side of the bed he saw her quivering. He scooted off the bed and kneeled down to where she was. She was crying.

She whimpered under her breath "that… that was what I was talking about… that was reckless and hurtful…"

Sasuke heard her and said "how did I _hurt_ you?"

Sakura sobbed then hissed "you think it's funny to play with my emotions!! You think that you can just flirt with me and then act all 'cool' like nothing happened and it didn't mean a thing to you!! You don't even know how I feel!! So when you do shit like that it hurts!!!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. Did she just confess?

Sakura bit her lip then ran to the bathroom and locked herself in. Sasuke scurried after her, but had the door slammed a millimeter from his face. He tried opening it but it was no use, it was locked from the inside. He rattled the door some hoping that shaking it would magically cause it to open, but alas, it didn't.

"Go away!!" a timid voice trembled out.

Sasuke sighed then collapsed on the bed. He was at a loss for words. She confesses then locks herself in a bathroom… this girl obviously wasn't good at coping with situations. Anyway, he wasn't about to confess to her through a locked bathroom door. He'd just have to wait. Naruto sure didn't clean up much did he? Or so Sasuke thought.

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Sasuke awoke swiping away his bangs from the lids of his eyes. It was a Saturday so he slept in. There were only a few people who had class or anything to do that day, and Sakura was one of them. He didn't even bother checking if she was still in the bathroom, because he knew she was gone. The alarm clock woke her, but not him, up that morning. How?... Sasuke didn't know. He was only concerned with drinking some coffee so he'd wake up before he went outside. The sun was already completely up in the sky illuminating the landscape of the college campus. He chugged a mug of dark coffee and plodded into the bathroom to take his morning shower.

"Cold!..." he hissed as he turned the water on.

Sakura had apparently used all the hot water that morning. How nice of her. Sasuke cringed at the artic, icy water running down his body. He thought that he probably deserved it for not trying harder to bust the door open and get to Sakura. He was just so tired and didn't want to deal wit her drama queen attitude. Sasuke grabbed his backpack sense he only had one class that afternoon. He decided to go by the library to make up for lost study time.

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He walked on the linoleum floors of the library with each foot making a 'tak' sound as he walked. He slowly made his way over to the nearest shelf with books dealing on business, what he was going to major in. He was running a finger along the numerous books trying to find one that caught his eye. Instead, something else did. There was a crack from where a book was missing on both sides of the shelf so he could see through. He was squinting carefully, and his eyes caught a glimpse of pinkette tresses waft by the shelf. The pink haired girl stopped walking and stood with elbow in front of the 'peep-hole' in the shelf.

"psssst!" Sasuke whispered through the crack.

The girl looked around suspiciously then returned to scanning the shelf.

"psssssssssssSSSTT!!" Sasuke whispered again.

This time the girl raised a brow and lowered herself to see through the crack of the shelf. She jumped back as her emerald irises met onyx orbs.

"GAH!!!!" She gasped as she leapt backwards and almost hit the shelf behind her.

Sasuke smirked and walked around to the other side of the shelf where he saw the whole figure of the pinkette and said "sorry, I couldn't resist."

Sakura's eyes widened as she turned around and started power walking away. She was caught off guard when someone grabbed her wrist from behind.

"stop." The voice demanded in a hushed tone (because they were in a library).

Sakura had halted her steps and lowered her gaze so her bangs obscured her facial expression.

"Let… go…" she seethed through barred teeth.

"No" a husky voice replied impudently.

Sakura began to quiver and felt like she should just violently shake her arm till he would let go, but stopped herself as words started escaping the Uchiha's mouth. She couldn't' make them out because they were so slurred. Sasuke never spoke like this… ever… something was up. Sakura simply lifted her head, looked at him, and raised a brow.

Sasuke twitched in irritation at his voice's will to slur and waver and drug Sakura outside of the library.

"Stop it!! Let go!!!" she continually hissed as she struggled to get free.

It was futile. Sasuke wasn't relinquishing his grip on her wrists any time soon. He fully intended to talk to her on his terms with out any lockable doors for her to hide behind. He wanted answers to his questions, and he wanted to answer hers whether she'd ask them again or not didn't matter.

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_**To Be Continued…**_

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SORRY FOR TAKING 2 WEEKS!!!!! ARGGGHHH!!!!! I've just been so busy with friends and my social life it's just too hard to balance ='( Anyways I hope to update regularly as possible. I also have a few stories under wraps for you guys ;)

"Ashiteru" (my newest story), was a spur of the moment thing, and wasn't ever planned or plot lined out. None of my stories have a plot line. I take them where I want them to go right as I'm writing them believe it or not. I just hate sticking to boundaries or stay confined to certain regulations or requirements. I just like my creativity to soar =)

Well besides that, I have two stories I'm keeping under wraps until I have 80% of their chapters/writing done, because I hate when I can't update regularly. I know that ya'll will want me to just upload ALL of it for you to read, I don't blame you, but I want your reviews for each chapter, and it makes my life easier by being ahead and releasing a little at a time giving people a chance to R&R before updating again. It will make balance between school and my side writing easier. Because this writing business actually eats up a crap-load of my time. It's to the point where my parents are like "THIS ISN'T GETTING YOU A PAY CHECK TO FOCUS ON WHAT'S IMPORTANT!!!!!" then I'm like "my readers are important!!! And this is good practice for future writing!!!!" because if I have a good plot line like these stories and just name the character's differently, I could really write a piece of unique, valid, literature that I could have published and make some money off of. I doubt I'll be a BY best seller author, but I could definitely make a _little_ something out of this writing ability of mine. Would you guys buy my stories if I made them like this (without specific Naruto character names because of the copy right issues)?

Anyways, I've answered you're reviews below!!! I like it when you put more than just "update soon" so if you wrote more then that give yourself a pat on the back and look for a reply below ^_^

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**mellowkid9090:** I'm actually putting THAT in the next chapter ;) so you'll just have to wait and see then ^_^

**Hasumi-chan16:** haha got to get a little PMS in there xDDD I hope you like how I made them go bitch to Sasuke =)

**Twisted Musalih:** reply N/A (can't really reply to what you put sryz ='( but if you put something more or ask a question or what ever I'd be more than happy to answer it!)

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and only: **the DO SUCK!!! OMG!!!!! I pulled my hair out last time because my school has a process where if you have "incentive" you can either exempt or choose to take it and get a bonus +10% on it. The requirements are you have to be absent for less than 3 days (or tardy less than 9 times), and/or have an A in the class. Last semester I only had incentive in Chorus…. Grrrr… I had to take the final exams for ALL of my core classes…. It sucked ass

Anywayssssssss I hope you like this chapter and let me know what you think of it!!! You're reviews usually make me laugh ;) (like the one you put on Ashiteru about Kiba and Akamaru xDDDDD LMAO!! Haha)


	6. We Fight We Break Up We Kiss We Make Up

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey guys! Sorry that this is taking so long to update. I promised that I was going to try and update. And I actually _was_ able to convince my dad to let me use word document on his mac lap top. So while we're driving I can type up my stories. It'll definitely give me time to update, but I can't only upload the documents when I get to a hotel with wi-fi. My parents said they got renovations for some pretty nice hotels, so I guess that would include wi-fi, but I'm not 100% sure. If not, then I'll just be uploading this when I get to my uncle steve's house I KNOW that he'll have wi-fi. And if not (which isn't likely) then I guess I'm screwed until I get home! xDDD hahaha. My family is oh so smart (EXTREME sarcasm) so they decided that we should all take a 4-5 day car ride from Georgia to California…. Yea… they're smarttt…. There _has_ to be some kind of child abuse law against this… anyway. I hope that you guys are still keeping this on your story alert feed, but I can't make any promises about update dates. I have color guard stuff including band camp, and then ihave regular camp. Not to mention I'm spending 1/3 to ½ of my summer out in California. And I'm DEFENATELY _not_ spending it on the computer. That's for at home, but I can't do much else in the car with no internet or anything to do. So I might as well type up my stories for you guys =). ENJOY!

BE SURE TO R&R! ^(^0^)^ woot!

**LOVE**

_**LIKE**_

_**THIS**_

"Look at me" Sasuke hissed, keeping his calm and cool façade.

Sakura was hesitant to raise her gaze, but when her emerald eyes met obsidian orbs she froze. The two of them were standing in an on-campus park. It was small, but guaranteed enough nature to satisfy any college student's outdoor needs. They were under the shade of a campus tree. Sasuke held one of Sakura's wrists as she struggled to get free, but after their eyes met she stopped. She just fell limp on her knees and one hand, the other was still in Sasuke's un-relinquishing grip.

"Why?..." she whimpered with tears flowing down from her eyes.

Sasuke's face remained stoic and unmoved as he said "I haven't even said anything yet."

"You don't have to… you're eyes said it for you..."

Sasuke let go of her wrist and squatted in front of her to be eye level. When she looked up her face was covered in moist tear drops searching for their way to her jaw line. Sasuke caught one on his finger right as it fell from her face. Sakura looked back down, intent on not making eye contact with the youngest Uchiha.

"I wasn't playing games before. I only dismissed my behavior as a joke because you seemed sure I didn't care about you."

"But _why_?"

"I should ask _you_ 'why?', because of all the things I've done for you, all the time I've spent with you, and all the pain you've put me through, and then saying it was a 'joke' and nothing more."

Sakura whimpered before she said "you're bi-polar with your feelings. One moment you act like you have feelings for me, and the next you act like you hardly even know me."

"I can't _always_ give you my undivided attention Sakura. I have to deal with school, family, inheriting a business, and friends. But I've always cared."

Sakura just couldn't accept that he was really confessing to her. She stuttered and shook before she slowly got to her feet. She still had her gaze lowered on the grass below her feet where her teardrops landed,

"_This time… he's taken the joke __**too**__ far…"_ she hissed mentally while pondering her next move.

As Sasuke reached out to cup her cheek she slapped his arm and ran away. For the first time through the whole conversation Sasuke dropped his default, stoic face, leaving a stunned expression in its place. Sakura continued running away. She was crying so a trail of tears were left momentarily hanging in the air as she ran. Sakura knew she couldn't go back to her dorm, because that's the first place Sasuke would think to look for her. He also had access to it, so he would be able to corner her there. She felt like a helpless rat trapped in a maze as she fled through the college campus, weaving through buildings and plazas. She earned weird looks from half the people she passed. She was running through an outside eating area with picnic tables until she abruptly fell to the ground. She rubbed the arm she landed on and looked up to see Ino standing in front of her looking down at her tear stricken face.

Sakura pointed a finger at her blond friend and yelled, "you tripped me!"

Ino smirked retorting "if I didn't, you wouldn't have stopped."

"Who says I _wanted_ to stop running?"

"You don't, and that's your problem."

"Problem?" Sakura asked with a confused expression.

Ino rolled her eyes then held a hand out to Sakura saying "let's get you 'un-disheveled' first. Then we'll talk about it."

Sakura didn't give any confirmation, but took Ino's hand and was pulled up off the cement walk way. The two girls walked off towards the nearest building which happened to be Ino's dorm house.

Sasuke had a pensive and somewhat angry expression as he walked down a sidewalk towards his and Sakura's dorm room. He knew she wasn't there. She was a smart girl, so she would go somewhere else to hide for a while. His steps were small and slow, indicating he had nowhere he needed to be.

"Sasuke-teme!" an obnoxious voice called out from behind.

Sasuke turned around and saw his hyperactive blond friends and muttered "dobe.."

Naruto ran up to Sasuke and asked "hey where's Sakura-chan? Isn't she _always_ with you?" while scratching the back of his messy blond tresses looking around for the pinkette.

"She's somewhere else" Sasuke scoffed in reply.

Naruto sighed then said "you told her… didn't you?"

Sasuke didn't bother replying, but looked away from Naruto angrily, which was all the answer the blond needed.

"I should start charging you to clean-up your messes" Naruto mocked the raven haired boy.

Sasuke rolled his eyes then walked away to avoid further confrontation.

"There we are!" Ino chirped as she threw a moist paper towel in the bathroom trash can.

Sakura turned around to look in the mirror and saw that she looked normal again. What ever Ino had used made her facial swelling go down and the redness was gone. However, her eyes still were a tad blood-shot.

"Not much I can do to your eyeballs sorry, but that should suffice" Ino told Sakura confidently.

"Thanks Ino…" Sakura whispered while touching her face in disbelief.

"Now tell me what happened" Ino demanded.

After Sakura had fully explained what had happened, Ino shook her head at her doubtful friend.

"I hate to break it to you" Ino told her friend with a smirk, "but he _likes_ you. No, he _loves_ you."

Sakura's facial expression still had doubt as she asked "and how do you know _that_?"

"Because Sasuke's never admitted feelings for anyone. He never even acted 'flirtatious' towards anyone... besides you."

"And how do you know _that_? You guessing?"

"No. I've known that _Uchiha_ for as long as I've known _you_."

Sakura lowered her head in defeat. She still clung to doubting possible happiness and Ino could sense it.

"What would it take to make him prove that he's serious?" Ino asked her pessimistic friend.

Sakura shrugged saying "I don't know… maybe try to act like he likes me more consecutively then he has. Basically be less 'on-and-off'. Or admit that he has feelings for me when we're not just by ourselves."

Ino laughed at her friend's bizarre requirements, but made sure to remind herself to tell Sasuke those things, for his sake.

Sakura sighed knowing she was going to have to face Sasuke at some point. She was walking down the sidewalk that was illuminated by the streetlights on campus. She had stayed with Ino for a pretty good amount of time, so by the time she left it was already dark outside. Walking at a brisk pace towards her dorm room, she was running scenarios through her head.

"_What if Sasuke's waiting for me?... What if he's mad at me?... Or maybe he's gone?..."_ Sakura thought to herself as she fumbled for her keys.

When she opened the door, she realized that all her previous guesses were wrong. Sakura walked into her dorm room to find Sasuke asleep on the couch. His placid face held no emotion or expression. It was obvious that he intended to stay up and wait for her. Sakura broke a crooked smile across her face at his unpredictable behavior. She grabbed a blanket from a basket next to the couch and spread it across his sleeping figure. Once she finished that she sat on the end near his feet and used the armrest as a pillow. Thoughts of the future plagued her thoughts as she drifted off into a restless slumber.

When Sasuke woke up he felt different from when he had gone to sleep. The first thing he noticed was the blanket draped over him that wasn't there before. The second thing he noticed was the sleeping pinkette sitting on the couch at his feet. She'd come back last night, but he wasn't able to stay up to talk to her. Something told him it was better that way, because he would've most likely scared her away. Sasuke stood up from the couch, clutching the blanket in one of his hands. He walked over to Sakura and placed it on her, returning the favor. Then he got up and headed into their room to get ready for the day. He stepped in the shower after throwing his cloths in the laundry hamper.

Sakura woke up startled when she felt something soft against her skin. She jumped then looked down to see the blanket she'd put on Sasuke, and then looked over to where the said man was sleeping last night to find nothing there. Sakura stood up then scurried to her bedroom to get dressed in fresh cloths. She stripped down to nothing then put on fresh underwear. Sasuke had stepped out of the bathroom and saw her bare back then turned his own back to her blushing furiously.

"Sorry" he grunted.

Sakura looked over her shoulder to see Sasuke's bare back and a towel around his waist. She blushed then walked up behind him.

Gentle arms wrapped around Sasuke's waist from behind as a soft voice said "it's okay…"

Sasuke's back was still to Sakura, but he could feel her bare chest pressed up against his back. Sasuke blushed furiously and unclasped her hands from around his waist. He turned around trying to keep a careful distance between the two of them so he wouldn't 'see' anything, and she couldn't press herself up against him.

"Why are you suddenly changing your mind?" Sasuke asked with a calm yet confused tone.

Sakura bit her lower lip then explained "Ino talked to me…"

"_So it __wasn't__ dobe this time?"_ Sasuke questioned himself.

"So what are we then?" Sasuke asked aloud.

"Whatever _you_ want us to be…" Sakura whispered while pulling him into a hug.

Sasuke was slightly confused from the answer he received, but complied none-the-less with "lovers? Boyfriend/girlfriend?"

Sakura made no noise, but Sasuke could feel her nodding against the skin of his neck.

"You wana go some were to celebrate?" Sakura asked while smirking against his skin.

"Sure" he said returning the smirk, "but you have to get some cloths on first" he added then slapped her butt before walking out.

Sakura blushed while scowling as she walked across the room to her dresser to go through her clothing options, and decide what she would wear tonight after school for dinner with him.

Sasuke brought Sakura to a five star restaurant and took her inside.

"_I'm so under-dressed…"_ Sakura thought nervously as they pulled up to the entrance.

Sasuke handed his keys to the valet after helping Sakura out of the car. The man started the car then drove it back behind the building where all the other parked cars were.

"I really **am** under-dressed aren't I?" Sakura asked as they walked into the restaurant.

Sasuke shook his head replying "no, I'm only wearing slacks and a dress shirt. Most people don't really dress up here unless they're with a dinner party."

Sakura flattened out any possible wrinkles in her mid-thigh satin halter dress as they walked up to the podium with an employee thumbing through lists of names.

"Name?" the man asked carelessly, not bothering to look up at who he was speaking to.

"Uchiha" Sasuke said somewhat annoyed at the man's disrespect for him.

The employee immediately looked up with a 'deer-in-the-headlights' expression plastered all over his face.

"O-oh! S-sorry Uchiha-san!" The man stuttered grabbing two menus then asked "will you be dining with the others?"

Sasuke scowled for a moment repeating "_others_?... Like _who_?"

"Yes" a husky voice replied before Sasuke could answer the question, "he will."

Sasuke froze in his tracks at the sound of the familiar voice behind them. Sakura turned around to come face to ace with a Sasuke look-alike. She shot her head at Sasuke, then back at the other man. Sakura repeated this pattern quickening the pace each time until Sasuke answer her un-spoken question.

"That's my brother…" Sasuke said with an almost angry face.

"Itachi, pleased to meet you" the man said as he took Sakura's hand and planted a gentle kiss on the back of it adding "miss…?"

"Haruno, Sakura Haruno" Sakura replied with a smile.

Itachi smiled then added "and why, might I ask, is a charming young lady such as yourself doing accompanying my brother?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and scoffed at his brother's underlying insult.

Sakura giggled then answered "I'm his girl friend."

Itachi continued smiling as he added "I thought as much. It's a shame that he's dragging around such a pretty girl against her will."

"No, far from it. Your brother's a very _fine_ gentleman" Sakura countered his remark.

Sasuke smirked in triumph at his brother before saying "we came here to have dinner, so if you don't mind-"

"Then please, come eat with us!" Itachi chirped gesturing Sasuke to follow.

Sasuke knew Itachi's 'question/gesture' was an order. Sakura was completely unaware of the growing tension between the two siblings as they walked towards a table with only one other man sitting at it.

Itachi approached the table then said "Kisame, you've already met my brother," both Kisame and Sasuke nodded once in confirmation then Itachi added "and this is his beautiful girl friend, Haruno-san."

Sakura bowed slightly and said "pleased to meet you Kisame-san."

"Oh! Please do just call me Kisame, I'm not much for formalities" Kisame joked with a lively gleam in his fishy eyes.

Sasuke scoffed at his brother's collogue and long time friend. He didn't get why Kisame was trying to be all "friendly" with _his_ girlfriend. Sasuke pulled a chair out for Sakura to sit in then sat down next to her. Sasuke was across from Itachi, and Sakura was across from Kisame.

"So pleas do tell us about yourself Haruno-san" Itachi requested coolly.

Sakura didn't know what to say or how to act, and Sasuke could read it all over her face and fidgeting hands under the table.

"I-I'm not sure what you want t-to know!" She chirped trying to hide her nervousness.

Itachi smiled at her warmly before saying "there's no need to be nervous Haruno-san. We only wish to be familiar with you. I'm terribly sorry if it's making you nervous."

Sakura smiled as best she could then replied "I'm just not good at being very… social…"

Itachi smirked then asked "then how are you a stage dancer in my brother's night club?"

Sasuke immediately narrowed his eyes at his older brother before snarling "don't judge her before you even get to know her" with such a calm voice that it almost startled Sakura.

Sakura gently placed her hand on his thigh under the table sending him a message saying 'it's ok, don't worry about it.' Sasuke was already starting to reach his boiling point with his brother. He couldn't stand to see Itachi insult his girlfriend.

"I only work there to pay for my college tuition: she stated without stuttering.

Sasuke caught a feeling that Itachi's question _did_ insult her, because she wasn't stuttering anymore. His irking comment instilled in Sakura a new strength of newfound confidence born from her anger that allowed her to appear sure of herself. Sasuke knew better. He knew this defense routine all too well. He knew that behind her calm and confident façade she was fuming mad. She couldn't explode though, because they were in a very nice restaurant and she preferred to _not_ attract attention to herself.

"Oh, I see" Itachi said.

Sasuke and Sakura finished dinner with his brother and Kisame. As they got up to leave Itachi requested a private conversation with his younger brother. They walked towards the wash rooms and stopped in a narrow hallway.

"What do you want?" Sasuke hissed.

Itachi wagged his finger saying "tsk! tsk!" then added "that's no way to treat your older sibling. Now, I want you to bring Sakura over to the main estate, on Friday next week."

Sasuke scowled then said "that's my birthday…"

Itachi smirked saying "I know" then walked past his brother giving the 'cold-shoulder' and leaving an address card in his hands.

The brothers were back to back before Itachi mocked "I wrote down the address… in case you forgot where you live."

Sasuke snarled then said "I **don't** live there anymore."

_**To Be Continued…**_

YAY! I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! It took me a long time typing it up in the car. I'm sorry if you didn't like how Itachi and Kisame seemed to use formal language and stuffs, but they _were_ at a formal restaurant. I intend to update again! But I hope this can suffice for now!

PLEASE R&R! ^(^0^)^

I enjoy your reviews =)

And the replies to the reviews from last chapter are posted below! ^_^


	7. Meet The Inlaws

**Disclaimer: ** I DO NOT own Naruto. I only wish I did xD

So please don't sue the poor high school student, unless you want to sue me for a loft bed and keyboard xD caz that's all I got!

Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to update! I feel really bad but it's not without excuse! I know I always have excuses but this one's legit. I've been in CA for my grandma's funeral and stuff as you all well know, then when I came back I only had one day to pack and then the next day I left for camp (I was gone Sunday afternoon and came back Friday afternoon).

Then the day I come back a friend comes and spends the night (we missed each other and we both badly wanted to party xD)

Then the next day I go to church then it's apparently Momo's (monaya's) birthday! (she's also my BFF but I forgot about her b-day :3) so I got over there and spend the night. We watch shutter island while tripping off monster energy drinks xD It was really good. I actually liked it, and I'm not normally into those R rated horror films, but this one had a kool twist and a plot line and not just senseless violence.

After that I came home on Monday and I had a lot of chores to do and summer reading to catch up on as well. Then I chilled for a bit and wrote a little of this, but I got distracted from watching some animes.

Tuesday, I had color guard so I had to get up at 7am, get ready, eat breakfast, take care of my neighbor's dogs (the neighbors who live on the OTHER side of the neighborhood) and then walk to school for color guard practice. I didn't have a CLUE what we were working on today, but I faked out the instructor and just watched everyone around me and it looked like I wasn't gone at all. I was just really REALLY confused xD

Then on Wednesday I hung out with one of my friends from color guard and did house chores and such, and Thursday I just felt like being lazy so I say around and watched Anime and played World of Warcraft all day :3

I can't believe that there's only a few more weeks of summer for me! I just got out at the very end of May! ARGGGG! ScReW the school system! anyways I have to make this quick because I'm REALLY behind on my reading for school and that's an _understatement_. My mom also told me that not only that, but I also have a math packet I'm supposed to do! FML!

Besides all that… I hope that you all thoroughly enjoy this chapter that I've poured my heart, soul, and every fiber of my being into (yes I'm being dramatic).

DON'T FORGET TO R&R! ^(^0^)^

**Love **_Like_ This

Sakura ran down the campus sidewalk dodging other students who were walking. They acted as obstacles for her to swerve around. Sakura skillfully leapt up the stairs of the dorm to the 2nd floor where her room was. She fumbled through her purse for the keys and quickly un-did the lock and burst into the mini-apartment room. Sakura didn't see Sasuke anywhere so she walked into the bedroom after closing the main door into the dorm room. She stepped in and heard the shower water running.

"_I swear… does he __**always**__ have to be in the shower when I get home?..."_ Sakura mentally scoffed as she walked towards the walk-in closet.

She thumbed through dresses and blouses and even skirts. She didn't know what to expect doing over to the Uchiha main estate. They were _obviously_ a _very_ wealthy family (and _that_ was an understatement…).

"Formal" a husky voice stated confidently at the zoned out figure in the closet.

Sakura came back to reality and snapped her head in Sasuke's direction. She didn't realize that he could read her thoughts _that_ easily.

"Oh…" she replied a bit stunned staring hopelessly at her cloths.

The shirtless Sasuke, who was dressed I black dress pants, walked over to peer over her shoulder at her assortment of cloths. He had a navy blue dress shirt clasped in one hand, and used his other hand to thumb through Sakura's cloths. Sakura was thankful that he at _least_ had some pants on this time, but the water dripping on her bare shoulder (she was wearing a towel because she's taken her other cloths off to get dressed in the nice ones) from his wet hair wasn't 'helping' either.

Sasuke finally pulled a selection from the rack and handed it to Sakura saying "wear this."

Sakura took the dress on the hanger slightly baffled. Sasuke had never helped her pick out cloths before, and he didn't make a bad selection either. Sakura held up the pretty green kimono that matched the shade of her emerald eyes. There were pink flowers all over it. Then it had a navy blue obi. She didn't even know that it was there. Then again, after her friends' shopping spree she wasn't sure _what_ she had anymore.

"Hurry up" a voice said flatly from the other side of the closet door.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she slipped on the kimono and tied the obi in the back. When she walked out Sasuke's eyes widened for a _whole_ second (not a fraction this time) before they returned to their normal width.

"I need make-up" Sakura voiced her thoughts aloud as she walked over to the dresser with the mirror on it.

"No" Sasuke said flatly while making his way towards her, "you've made us late enough as it is" he added as he took her wrist and drug her towards the door.

Sakura's protests were ignored as Sasuke led her out of the dorm room locking the door behind them.

Ino was sipping on a nice glass of hot tea sitting out on one of the patio spaces of a small on campus café. She had her hot tea in one hand, and the latest gossip-rag magazine in the other.

"Hey! HEY! HEY YOU!" she heard someone shouting while coming towards her.

Ino turned her head and one of her eyes starting twitching as she tried to ignore Naruto's presence coming closer. She did care about the blond as a friend, but he was intruding on her favorite past time and he had no right.

"INO! I'm talking to YOU!" Naruto yelled while standing right in front of her.

Ino took a deep breath closing her eyes then sighed letting the breath out and opening her eyes while tilting her head telling the other blond "Naruto, haven't I told you how importing my 'me time' is?"

Naruto rolled his eyes pretending to ignore the high maintenance blond's snippiness then slammed his hand on the table and declared "I can't find Sakura-chan _anywhere_!"

"No shit Sherlock…" Ino sneered, "She's with Sasuke!"

"How was _I_ supposed to know that?" Naruto whined.

Ino got up from her seat with her arms crossed and walked away with her magazine still skimming over a few irresistible stories. Naruto followed after her demanding answers.

"Sasukeeeee…" Sakura whined.

Sasuke closed his eyes in irritation for a moment and grunted. Sakura crossed her arms and huffed at him before looking away from him and sticking her nose up in the air. The two sat in the car in silence for a few moments while headed to his family's house.

Sakura had finally gotten fed-up with the incessant side glances from Sasuke and the eerie sound of the air condition system in the car and said "when are we going to get there?"

Sasuke pinched the skin between his eyes in frustration and answered "ten minutes."

"You said that ten minutes ago.." Sakura spat.

"And I'll keep saying it until we get there or until you stop asking."

Sakura glared at him intensely but when she realized that she was being ignored she just pouted, huffed, and puffed while looking out the passenger seat window. Sasuke didn't know how he managed to put up with her sometimes, but he knew that if she arrived in a bad mood, things would only become worse for _both_ of them.

"Sakura, listen" Sasuke ordered in as nice a voice as he could manage.

Sakura raised a brow and turned her head to face the man in the car beside her, "Nani?" she asked.

"I need you to be on your best behavior like your _life_ depended on it…"

Sakura looked at him confused for a moment then busted out laughing "come on Sasuke! No one's family is _that_ bad! Hahahaha!"

Sasuke grunted and muttered under his breath "you'd be surprised.

But the side comment was unnoticed by the giggling girl beside him.

"_At least she's in a better mood…"_ he thought to himself as they pulled into his family's driveway leading up to their ten car garage.

When they turned the corner of the drive way Sakura saw the estate and yelled "HOLY SH-"

"IT!" Ino screeched as Naruto grabbed her magazine out from under her nose while walking along the side walk. (it was continued from what Sakura said so they both were saying "shit". Just to clarify).

"Tell me where they are or I'll rip this magazine in half and then in half again… and again… until it turns into confetti for my next frat party" Naruto ordered with authority in his voice.

Ino shuttered at the mention of her beloved gossip rag's fate. She had to do something! She decided that the knuckle head college student couldn't manage to go there anyway or mess anything up so she decided against her better judgment to tell him.

"ahem…" Ino cleared her voice while holding out her hand for the magazine then adding "they're with Sasuke's family at their house… now give it."

Naruto raised a brow then asked her "doing what?"

"That wasn't part of the deal, now give me back my magazine!" Ino squealed.

Naruto shuddered from the murderous aura being emitted from the homicidal female standing in front of him. He decided he might just push one more button.

"I command you to tell me!" Naruto said with audacity.

Ino's faced turned even more sinister as she hissed "talk to me like that again… and I'll kick you in the nuts so hard that your grandchildren will feel it…"

Naruto dropped the magazine and took small steps backwards while protecting his manhood. Ino watch him retreating with a sinister smirk all over her face. She bent down and picked up the magazine with a triumphant expression and picked up reading it where she left off and continued walking down the sidewalk.

Sasuke and Sakura made their way up the front steps of the house which seemed to never end. The house looked bigger than most mansions that Sakura had ever pictured in her mind. Sakura's hand was shaking as she reached for the door bell. Sasuke stared at her then grabbed her wrist, lowered her hand, stepped in front of her, and rang the door bell.

A tall charcoal haired man with onyx eyes answered the door "Sasuke, it's good to see you."

"Itachi-nii-san…" Sasuke muttered but bowed ever so slightly out of respect for his older sibling.

Itachi raised a brow then stood on his tippy toes to peer over Sasuke's shoulder. He saw a beautiful pinkette in an emerald green kimono gazing back into his questioning eyes. Itachi was careful not to give an angry aura through his eyes, because that wasn't how he felt at all. He felt somewhat delighted and intrigued by this young woman's interest in his little brother. The normal women that Sasuke tended to attract were not only ugly but also high maintenance, out spoken, rash, and arrogant. Yet despite his past bad luck he managed to find a beautiful girl who was quiet, seemed to know her place, submissive, simplistic, and open minded. Itachi also felt an attraction to her in his own way, but he mostly just felt like he had an obligation to take care of her for Sasuke if anything were to happen to him (not like Itachi had any ideas or anything). The whole reason he told Sasuke to come to the main house is not only because it was his birthday, but also because he wanted to get the family to accept her. It might be hard with that crazy pink hair of hers and those equally disturbing green eyes, but once you looked past all of that she was, in Itachi's opinion, the ideal match for his dearest little brother.

"Itachi-san… why are you staring at me like that?" Sakura asked with a reddened face looking to the side to avoid his gaze.

Itachi didn't realize that he'd been staring at her for that long. He was embarrassed himself and allowed a small tint of pink to surface on his cheeks.

He scratched the back of his head and chuckled "sorry Sakura-san, I didn't mean to stare. You're just so… so… beautiful."

Sakura giggled then smiled and looked at Itachi as he invited both Sasuke and her inside the main house. She gasped at the elaborate marble floors of the place and just about everything else inside it. Sasuke didn't seem very impressed but just passively handed his windbreaker jacket to a maid standing by the door. Sakura was wearing a kimono, so she didn't need to wear a jacket. The two walked down a long and elegant hallway behind Itachi. They were headed towards two large double doors at the end of it. Once they reached the doors Itachi stopped for a moment and put his hand on the door knob. He looked back over his shoulder at his little brother who simply nodded as if to say 'yes, I'm ready.'

"They're here!" Itachi cheered as his flung the doors open and walked into the room with the two love birds following behind him.

"Man I can't believe that Sasuke… First he doesn't do _anything_ to show feelings for her, now just a few days later he's taking her to see his _whole_ family?" Naruto muttered as he walked along the street back to his dorm.

"WHAT?" came a loud shout from behind the brooding blond.

Naruto spun around from the initial shock to come face to face with one of his classmates, Rock Lee.

"What has Sasuke done with my Sakura-chan?" Lee shouted as his made a fist and a serious expression.

"Uh… _your_ Sakura-chan?..." Naruto asked with a somewhat amused look on his face.

"Well she _will_ be mine! I WILL USE ALL MY YOUTH TO RETRIVE HER FALTERING HEART!" Lee shouted with a determined stance and hearts in his eyes.

Naruto tip-toed away from the insane classmate and slipped into his dorm-room in order to escape any possible injuries from Lee's "youthful" intensity…

"Look at that pink hair…" one of the elder women whispered to the other woman sitting next to her, about the same age.

Everywhere Sakura walked she could hear critical remarks about her posture, hair, eyes, poise, skin, figure, weight, nails, shoes, PDA (she was holding Sasuke's hand), and just about everything else you can imagine. She didn't feel like anyone besides Sasuke and Itachi even _liked_ her!

"Calm down, they'll stop it in a few minutes" Sasuke said monotonously as he let go of Sakura's hand and walked over to chat with a few of his cousins.

Sakura didn't know what to do. Sasuke had obviously walked _away_ from her since he let go of her hand, and she didn't want to be a pest and follow him. That would just give the old ladies more to gripe about. Sakura stood there trying to act as if she had everything together, but to be honest she was on the verge of a psychotic break down. She was about to make a mad dash for the bath room when someone tapped her shoulder.

Sakura turned around and gave the beautiful long black haired woman a quizzical look mumbling "um… hi?"

The woman simply smiled at Sakura requesting "come, please follow me."

Sakura just got even more confused, but none-the-less followed the woman into an area that seemed to be a bit less crowded in the Uchiha mansion. She was surprised that their family was so _big_!

"So tell me about yourself" the woman chirped.

Sakura examined the woman closer before answering and thought _"she __**must**__ be one of Sasuke's cousins… she so young, and looks so much like him!"_

Sakura found herself staring and embarrassed she blushed and answered "well… I'm not sure what to say… is there anything specific you would like to know?"

The woman suddenly blushed as well and said "how rude of me! I'm asking you questions and I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Mikoto Uchiha, I'm Sasuke's mother."

Sakura's jaw dropped at how beautiful his mother was at her age. She would at _least_ have to be in her early 40's with a son in his 20's and another in his teens.

"uh…. I…. well…. Wow…. Just wow…" Sakura stuttered.

Mikoto laughed then playfully slapped Sakura on the shoulder teasing "you didn't think I was his sister did you?"

"_Something like that…"_ Sakura mentally muttered while she rubbed her arm.

"There you are" a voice came from the door way.

Sakura spun around to see Sasuke standing there leaning in the door way.

"Yep!" Sakura chirped trying not to sound overwhelmed or intimidated.

Sasuke smirked at how hard she was trying to cover it up and simply walked towards her saying "I went to go talk to my cousins for a few moments and when I turn around you were gone."

"Well you see…" Sakura started to say while fidgeting with her fingers.

"I wanted to talk to her!" Mikoto pleaded with chibi watery eyes.

"Mother…" Sasuke said in a grumble that sounded almost like a warning.

"But Sasu-chan you _must_ understand that I _have_ ot meet every single girl that you date!" Mikoto stated in a somewhat playful tone of voice.

After raising two sons, one would only hope that she would have a sense of humor.

"Should I show her to the rest of the family?" Sasuke asked as he held out his arm for Sakura to take.

"_Yes! I have my security blanket back!"_ Sakura cheered inwardly as she grabbed Sasuke's arm and snuggled against it.

Sasuke just raised a brow at her thinking _"That bad huh?"_

"Well if they haven't seen her already… it's not hard with that pink hair of hers…" Mikoto said as she hovered around Sakura inspecting the mop of neon pink tresses.

"You hide your root especially well…" Mikoto observed.

Sakura twitched for a moment the answered "actually… it's my natural hair color…"

"Oh." Mikoto said embarrassed with a tint of pink on her cheeks.

"If you'll excuse us mother…" Sasuke said as politely as he could.

"Oh don't mind me!" Mikoto chided while making a 'shoo' motion with her hands.

Sasuke rolled his eyes then led Sakura back into the main room.

Sakura took a deep breath then asked "is _all_ your family this crazy?"

"You don't know that half of it…"

"Sasuke!" a booming voice echoed from the other side of the room.

Sasuke just sweat dropped and thought _"not __him__"_

Sakura looked around the room trying to locate the source of the booming voice, but to no avail. Before she was able to locate the source someone jumped in front of her and bent down to stick their face an inch from hers.

"This…" Sasuke said with an irritated expression, "is my dad… Fugaku…"

Sakura let out a nervous chuckle and smile as Sasuke's dad continued to look her up and down from head to toe with a judgmental expression.

"She's an odd one…" Fugaku said looking to his son.

"Fath-"

"But she seems like a keeper!" Fugaku said as he smiled, waved, and walked away.

"That was… intimidating…" Sakura stuttered as she tried to regain her composure.

"I know it was, but you just have to deal with it in this family." Sasuke said as he was bidding goodbye to some of his family.

"Leaving already?" Sasuke's older cousin Shisui asked.

"Aa."

"What about the birthday cake?" Itachi chirped in slinging his arm over Shisui's shoulder.

"I don't like sweets so you have fun eating it for me" was Sasuke's somewhat bitter reply.

"Oh fine, but you _will_ open your birthday present, won't you?" Shisui asked holding out a neatly wrapped box with a ribbon on the top.

"Fine..." Sasuke said as he took the box from his cousin.

When he opened it he reached in only to pull out black boxers with the Uchiha fan printed all over them. He didn't know why his cousin enjoyed embarrassing him like that, but Sasuke just calmly placed them back in the box with his eyes closed, eye brows twitching, and his face starting to turn red.

"Look! He's blushing!" Shisui shouted followed by hysterical laughter.

"Hn, he did just pull out his underwear in front of the entire family and his _girlfriend_" Itachi chuckled.

"You people disgust me…" Sasuke muttered as he walked out the door.

"You forgot your present!" Shisui shouted as he threw the boxers at Sasuke.

They landed on his head and Sasuke just took them off and considered ripping them in half, but he did like the way they looked, so he decided against it and just wadded them up and stuck them in the trunk of his car.

"I hate going here..." He grumbled and turned the ignition.

_**To Be Continued…**_

So sorry that I've taken so long! ARG! Hahaha well I've been working on this chappy for like what? A week and a half? It's caz I have band camp coming up so I have to practice to catch up for the time I missed while I was in California. On top of that, I've been trying to spend time with my bf… so it's hard sometimes to fit this in now. I hope to write sometimes soon!

Also for those of you who like the anime "Aquarion", I literally JUST finished watching it and I'm a HUGE fan. I plan on doing a fan fic on it soon so keep your eyes open on my homepage. I should be adding it sometime soon!

I've answered your reviews below from the previous chapter! ^(^0^)^

(btw, "N/A" means that you just put "update soon" or something like that, that I can't really reply to…)

**nicolerogersXX: **well not too much happened with Itachi in this chapter, but I do plan on incorporating him in the story I bit more. As well as Sassori and Gaara, because they've been out of the plot line for a while. I want to bring them back.

**Reignashii:** I'm glad you think it's interesting!

**Brooklyn-King00:** haha well I got tired of them fighting too ;)

And they're my fav couple as well! xD

**AsiansBEST xD:** N/A

**HinataHyuuga211:** hahah HAPPY DANCE (^-^)^ ^(^-^)

Haha color guard IS awesome! We're like cheerleaders on steroids! xDDDDD

And that's awesome! California west coast REPRESENT! Haha. I live on the east coast but I was born on the west coast =)

**C.A.M.E.O1 and Only:** hahaha well you know Sakura! Space cadet extraordinaire! xD

**Hasumi-chan16:** hehe Itachi is ALWAYS plotting ;)

**Twisted Musalih: **N/A

**Ikuto'slover1112:** hahaha ikr?

**MichiiHaru-Chan:** hahaha well there isn't much plotting, just sibling rivalry and tension =)

**Mi-chann: **lolz! I'm glad you like my story so much! You might want to check out my others as well! They're all quite similar!

**Mi3staR:** hahahaha why thank you! I enjoy the constructive criticism! No, really, I do =)

It lets me know what I need to work on. I understand why that would upset you, and thanks for pointing it out, there isn't much I can do about it now, but I suppose that she isn't quite so loud an obnoxious :3

I also didn't really think about Hinata but next chappy I guess I'll try to introduce her! And I'll make it good too ;) I don't just want it to be like "hi, I'm Hinata, and I'm a t-t-t-transffffer student!" hahahahaha xDDD LAMEE! But anywayz, I'll do my best in the future! Keep up the good work on writing me those reviews! xD

**theonesakura:** hahaha that's EXACTLY what I was going for! *sarcasm intended* lolz xDD


	8. Belated Birthday Surprise

**Disclaimer: **I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey! I'm sorry it's been so long! But I wanted to think deeply about this next chapter. I mean I _am_ halfway through this story! I was also swamped with color guard, summer reading, and just being plain tired! Also, I have no clue when I'll be updating again, so keep this on your story feeds. It might be a few weeks, or a few MONTHS, I honestly can't tell you. I don't know how hectic school is going to be yet. It was so so last year, but I always was able to make time for this (it's kinda my favorite past time), but with color guard being added in we have a practice every Tuesday and Thursday, and then on Saturdays we usually have a 9am-8pm practice… Yea… pretty crazy…

So please don't get mad at me! Anyway, please enjoy the following story! ^^ I hope you like it!

* * *

_Love _Like **This**

* * *

Sakura woke up to the water running. _It's just Sasuke taking a shower…_ She thought to herself in annoyance. Did he ever consider if she might want to take one?

"Hurry up" she said dryly while knocking on the bathroom door then made her way to the kitchen.

It was 7 in the morning and Sakura was hungry, tired, and crabby. She was in no mood to put up with _any_ Uchiha attitude. The trip to his family's house was fun, but it had wiped all the energy right out of her. The worst part was, they had school today. She felt like just ditching the whole day and sleeping, but she knew that if Gaara found out he would come and drag her out of bed anyway.

"Sleepy much?" was Sasuke's dry remark as he entered the kitchen while drying his hair with a towel.

"At least you have some cloths on this time…" Sakura mumbled under her breath while searching the cabinet for cold cereal.

"What classes do you have today?" Sasuke asked while sitting at the kitchen table.

"Math, History, and Dance" She said blankly while pouring the milk into her cereal.

"I see" Sasuke said monotonously with his elbows on the table and his chin resting on the backs of his hands.

Sakura sat down at the table in her fuzzy pajama robe and pajama pants with matching slippers and ate her cereal in silence.

"You didn't get me anything?" Sasuke asked with a raised brow.

Sakura looked up scowling and replied "I'm not your housewife, get it yourself."

Sasuke rolled his eyes then stood up from the table and went over to cupboard and pulled out a bowl and made his own cold cereal.

"What's up with you this morning?" he asked, "You're crabbier than usual."

Sakura's brow began twitching at the last remark the Uchiha made. She simply got up and refused to look at him while putting her dishes in the sink and walking to the bedroom to get dressed for school.

"My point…" Sasuke said as she closed the door without another word.

"Who does he think he is?…" Sakura mumbled as she flipped through her clothing options in the closet.

After she'd selected an outfit she walked back into the room to see Sasuke slipping a shirt on and putting on his shoes. He stood up and was about to leave when he saw Sakura standing there right outside the closet.

"Want to walk to class?" he asked trying to be nice, in his own way.

Sakura thought for a moment then shrugged saying "sure why not, but isn't your first class in the other direction?"

"I have time to walk back" he said emotionlessly as he picked up his book bag and slung it over his shoulder.

Sakura shrugged off her previous objections and just tied her shoes and followed him out the door locking the deadbolt behind her. As Sasuke walked her to her first class, Math, he desperately wanted to ask her what was wrong. She had had so much fun last night, what was wrong with her?

"Seriously" Sasuke said looking at her from the side, "what's wrong?"

Sakura let out a huff then answered, "I already told you, I'm seriously just tired. Last night was fun, but it wiped me out."

Sasuke wasn't sure if it was the whole truth, but it would just have to suffice for now. He didn't want to push his luck and wind up angering the pinkette. He knew if that were to happen then he'd be showing up to class with a black eye. He still needed to talk with her though. He just figured he would have to wait until later.

* * *

Sakura had finished with her first two classes, Math and History, and was on her way to Dance class when she heard someone walking up beside her. She was so tired that she was zoned out and didn't really notice till the person cleared their throat clearly seeking her attention. When she looked to the side she saw Sasuke and just rolled her eyes.

"That's not very nice…" he teased as he stepped in front of her, "why are you ignoring me?"

"Step aside Uchiha…" Sakura said emotionlessly as she tried to get past him.

But whenever she would try to side step him he would just step right back in front of her.

"This isn't a game Sasuke…" Sakura muttered from behind barred teeth.

"I know it's not, but you've been grumpy. I thought maybe your attitude might've changed by now" Sasuke said with a plain tone of voice.

Sakura just rolled her eyes at the arrogant Uchiha muttering "so?..."

"So" he mimicked, "I need to talk to you."

"Fine" Sakura seethed, "What is it?"

Sasuke huffed, somewhat annoyed at the pink haired girl "Look, I don't know why but for some reason I just feel like I _need _you."

As soon as he finished his statement, he walked towards their dance class leaving a dazed and confused Sakura behind him. When he realized she wasn't following him, he turned around to face her and saw that she was still just standing there.

"You coming or not?" he asked in his normal monotone voice.

Sakura snapped out of her day dream and went to catch up with the fast walking Uchiha.

"You _what_?" she asked confused.

Sasuke pinched the skin between his eyes and said "hn."

"That's not an answer" Sakura hissed, "I'm not sure that's even a _word_…"

As much as Sasuke would never admit it, he wanted to taste her, to kiss her, to _have_ her. It seemed like there was absolutely no love in their relationship. It's not like Sakura was cold towards him, with exception of today because she was just worn out, but she still never said anything hateful. Sasuke decided that tonight that would change. He was going to make a move, and that move would determine a lot of things.

Before Sakura could say anything else to the already annoyed Uchiha, they walked into the classroom.

"You two are late" Anko said as she watched the other students changing into their indoor dancing shoes.

Sakura nervously laughed as she scratched the back of her head and said "about that…"

"I needed to speak with her" Sasuke told Anko thus ending the conversation.

When the Uchiha stepped in it was pretty much over. No matter what anyone else has to say, if an Uchiha creates an excuse, it's valid automatically, no questions asked. Sakura had picked up on it and just rolled her eyes. She didn't' think that the people (staff included) were that weak minded to his "suave" ways. Sakura had practically been living with him, so she knew just how suave he could be, and just how suave he _couldn't_ be.

"Well if you two are finally done changing your shoes go join the others" Deidara told them.

Sasuke nodded and walked out to join Naruto. The blond of course tried to start a conversation with the rather distracted raven haired boy. Although Sasuke refused to look at her, he was thinking about Sakura. Sakura was absolutely clueless about the matter, as to be expected, and just about went through her warm ups clueless of the raven eyes glancing at her from the side. Sakura was tired as it were anyway, so she wasn't too preoccupied with thoughts of the man she lived with who was and is her boss.

"Choose a partner, it's boy girl just like last time" Anko announced.

As expected, Sasuke immediately stood beside Sakura and Naruto beside Hinata. Both girls blushed at their certainty. Anko and Deidara just silently observed and made mental notes of the four teens. When everyone had picked their partner Anko and Deidara smirked giving the instructions.

Deidara coughed/cleared his throat to get everyone's attention then said "Anko and I have created a little assignment for you."

The students gulped as Anko stepped in front of Deidara and continued the announcement, "Yes, we have decided that this will be your partner for the project. _We_ meaning Deidara and I, will assign you with a song that you have to choreograph a song and lip sing to. We won't make you really sing since we know that dancing is the main focus here."

Deidara stepped in front of Anko with a list and read off the songs to each partnered group. The song for Sakura and Sasuke was "Tarzan and Jane" by Toybox. Sasuke sweat dropped at the thought of having to actually lip sing to that repetitive and retarded song. Sakura just jumped up and down and started humming the tune.

Naruto and Hinata got "Best Friend" also a song by Toybox. Naruto cheered thinking that it was going to be a piece of cake, until Hinata started humming the tune and spinning in circles smiling. Naruto sweat dropped thinking "it sounds like it belongs in a child's show…"

"Dobe…" Sasuke muttered as he packed his things up from class being dismissed.

"One more thing!" Anko shouted, "These dances are due in a month! No exceptions!"

The students nodded as they walked out of the studio to go home. It had been a long day and Sakura was at her wits end with just about everything. The worst part was, she still had work tonight.

* * *

"Ready?" Sasuke asked as he knocked lightly on the closet door.

When Sakura walked out Sasuke eyed her up and down with a quirked brow before asking, "What the hell?"

Sakura blushed then said "the girls and I decided to go with a fairy theme tonight."

Sasuke just pinched the skin between his eyes and muttered "fine" before walking out of the bedroom to go get his car keys off the kitchen counter.

Sakura just slumped her shoulders in defeat thinking he would like it, but just decided to drop it because he obviously didn't. She was wearing a cute strapless fairy dress that ended mid thy and had a pink stripe down the middle, between the middle and left side, and middle and right side. She was wearing light pink boots that matched the ribbon and then she had little wings in the back. (I don't know if this will show up since has been blocking URL links but I'll try and space it out for you guys, os just remove the spaces to get to picture h t t p : / / w w w . h a l l o w e e n p l a y g r o u n d . c o m / p r e t t y f a i r y c o s t u m e – p i – 5 4 4 9 . h t m l… If it shows up, great, if it doesn't the private message me and I'll message you the link, or e-mail it because I think they block it in PMs too. :/ ) Sakura just huffed at his hard headed ways and walked out of the bedroom turning the lights off behind her hoping that maybe tonight would be different for a change, maybe she would be able to have her two friends cheer her up.

* * *

"What took you so long pinky?" Temari teased with her arms crossed as she stood next to Ten-Ten, both girls in their fairy outfits.

Temari's outfit looked like a sexy version of Tinkerbelle, but her hair was in its usual style of 4 short stubby pig tails. Sakura's for the first time was just down and loosely flowing. Ten-Ten's hair was in a long braid in the back with flowery pinks randomly placed in it.

"You ready for the show ladies?" A man asked them holding a clip-board and pen in his hand.

The three girls smiled and Temari gave the peace sign yelling "_hell_ yea!"

Sakura just sighed then nodded along with Ten-Ten. The three girls silently and calmly walked out onto the stage to relieve the other stage dancers from the shift before them, and then stood in front of the audience. The guys seemed to not mind the skimpiness of the fairy costumes, even though they were a tad childish for a night club.

Sasuke who was watching from his private loft hanging above the club just rolled his eyes wondering how on earth they came up with such a ridiculous idea.

"_Why on earth would they wear __fairy__ costumes?"_ he mentally sneered.

Though Sasuke would never admit it, he really didn't mind too much himself. He enjoyed the "view". He just didn't enjoy knowing other men were oogling over _his_ pink haired girl friend.

"So why'd you call me here?" Shikamaru asked as he entered the room.

"The usual company of course" Sasuke smirked.

Shikamaru shrugged as he took a seat on one of the sofas asking, "so I take it the ladies will be up here later tonight?"

"Hn."

"HEY!" they loud and irritating Naruto shouted as he entered the room.

Sasuke just scowled then muttered "sit down dobe…"

"You're not being very nice tonight teme!" Naruto pouted.

The youngest Uchiha shot his loudmouthed friend the evil eye which made the annoying boy silence himself to prevent further irritation to the raven haired boy.

Shikamaru of course muttered a "troublesome" right before Neji walked in, followed by Kiba.

"Looks like everyone's here!" Naruto shouted throwing a fist in the air cheerily.

Sasuke just shrugged and sarcastically said "let the festivities begin."

Naruto took him seriously mostly because he didn't know any better and hollered as he jumped up to get a drink from the mini bar in the room. Kiba already had one and was sitting at one of the bar stools when he let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.

"It's just that all you guys have your own female companions… but me…" Kiba said drearily as he sipped some of the sake from his glass.

"I think I could help" Shikamaru said with a smirk, "I have this blond friend, but she's a bit of a party animal and just a tad high maintenance."

Naruto burst out laughing knowing who Shikamaru was talking about then said "a little?"

Shikamaru sighed muttering "troublesome" before continuing, "Ok, she's really high maintenance."

Kiba just shrugged then asked "will she be into me?"

"I don't know" Shikamaru answered, "But are you willing to give it a try?"

"Sure why not?"

"I'll call her, she'll be over here in a few minutes I'm sure"

With that last statement Shikamaru stepped out of the room to make the phone call to his little blond friend, Ino, and also step outside of the craziness. Sometimes they all tended to be too much for him. He wasn't into excitement all too much.

* * *

When the girls were done with their shift a man approached then but Temari held up her hand and cut him off before he even started, "We know where to go."

Then all three girls made a turn for the door and headed towards the loft room where Sasuke and the boys were.

"Oh joy…" Sakura muttered under her breath as they went up the stairs.

Temari just decided to ignore what the pinkette had said, but Ten-Ten had raised her brow and was now worried about her friend.

"What's wrong Sakura?" Ten-Ten asked now standing beside the said girl.

Sakura just shrugged then said "Sasuke said something confusing earlier at school about needing me or something, but I'm not entirely sure what happened. I was sorta out of if, and I'm afraid that he might confuse me even more this time…"

Ten-Ten started laughing then told her melo-dramatic friend, "haha! Oh my gosh Sakura! You think too much! Just relax! By saying he needs you it means two things. One, is that he cares about you and possibly loves you. The second thing, is that probably won't leave you."

Sakura blushed at the fact that it slightly meant he felt loyal to her. Even though they were in a relationship, she had to admit that she'd been leaving him hanging lately. She decided that wasn't going to be that way anymore. The most intimate they've ever been was on the first night she met him, and from then on it was never like that. To make things worse, the first night she met him they weren't even in a relationship. Now here she is with the famous Uchiha prodigy night club owner, her boss, and officially obligated to PDA, but she refuses. As she was about to enter the room with her friends she felt a surge of guilt. She decided to brush the chip off her shoulder from her lack of sleep last night and be the best for Sasuke. She wanted to make it up to him.

As the girls walked into the room they were surprised to see two other girls already in there. Sakura saw her friend Ino sitting at the mini bar talking to the dog boy, and then she saw Hinata and Naruto together. Naruto was receiving murderous looks from the over protective cousin who was being distracted by Ten-Ten. Sakura giggled as Temari surprised an unsuspecting Shikamaru as she sat in his lap.

"That just leaves you and me together" Sakura heard someone huskily whisper into her ear from behind her.

It sent shivers down her spine and she felt herself stiffening as she mutter "Sasuke-kunnnn! Don't do that to me!"

Sasuke just smirked at the stubborn pinkette. He thought that even though the fairy get-up was a little weird, it was definitely sexy. Especially the kind of outfits they picked. He would never admit it, but it made him want her worse than ever before.

"Sakura…" he whispered with hot breath onto her ear making her shiver just like before.

Although Sakura wouldn't admit it, she wanted him too. She had no doubts in her mind that if he wanted her that he would have her, because she would let him. She had no doubts that he did really need her and he really _wouldn't_ leave her. As the night drug on the others slowly started to leave. Naruto saw that Hinata was getting tired so he opted to take her back to her dorm early then go to his so he could be fresh tomorrow. Shikamaru left with Temari and Kiba decided to take Temari home. Neji and Ten-Ten were down on the club's dance floor but were planning to leave in a little while. Sasuke decided it was time for him to retire as well. He wrapped an arm around Sakura as he stood up from the mini bar in his private party room and passionately kissed her. She reciprocated the bliss of the kiss before he broke apart from her.

"I think it's time we headed home" he said as he took her hand in his and headed for the parking lot.

* * *

"I'm going to take a shower" he said in his normal emotionless voice.

Sakura nodded and just sat on the bed. She took her fairy costume off and was standing in the bedroom naked. She was planning on putting on her pajamas until a light bulb went off in her head. She walked over to the bathroom door where she heard the shower running. She gently pushed on the knob careful not to make a sound.

"_He left it unlocked!"_ she mentally cheered as she quietly opened the door and crept in.

She stood in the bathroom and took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"You going to get in?" She heard a husky voice ask.

Her face went red with embarrassment at the realization that Sasuke had heard her enter the bathroom.

"Uh…" was the only sound out of Sakura's mouth.

(if you want play My First Kiss ft. Ke$ha by 3oh!3)

Sasuke stuck his hand out from behind the shower curtain and made a 'come here' gesture with his hands. When Sakura was within his grasp he reached out and pulled her into the shower with him. Her hair was being soaked by the water while his lips were being soaked by the hot wet kisses he was receiving from the pinkette. Sakura was about to push him into one of the shower walls when he flipped their positions and pinned her to the wall instead.

"Sas…ke…" Sakura muttered in between pants of ecstasy.

"Hn." Was the only answer she got.

Sakura wanted to frown at his lack of words but she was being pleasured too much to contort her face into that emotion. Sasuke traced her curves with one of his hands and used the other to support his upper body weight by placing it against the wall by Sakura's head. Sakura arched her back into him and snaked her arms around his neck pulled him into her as they continued to passionately kiss. Whenever Sasuke deepened the kiss Sakura responded with just as much vigor and excitement. Sasuke then gently licked her lower lip. Sakura moaned into his mouth urging the Uchiha to slip his tongue into her caverns. He explored them and made a mental map of the inside of her mouth. Sakura soon found herself being lifted off her feet from being pressed so hard against the wall.

"I never gave you a birthday present did I?" Sakura whispered seductively in his ear.

"No, you didn't" Sasuke said with his husky voice coated with lust.

"What do you say we take a shower first then I'll give you your birthday present?"

"Hn." Sasuke said emotionlessly as he let her gently slid back to her feet in the shower.

They both took their sweet time washing each other. Sasuke had never seen Sakura's full naked figure before and vice versa. They were too taken with each other to really care if they were getting clean or not. Though their exteriors might be getting clean, their minds were getting dirtier and dirtier by the second. When they stepped out of the shower and Sakura wrapped a towel around herself she told Sasuke to wait in the bathroom until she'd done something. It apparently wouldn't take her long.

"Where is it?..." she mumbled to herself while she was pillaging through her closet.

When she finally found what she was looking for, and of course, it had to have a note attached to it. When Sakura red the note her face turned red with embarrassment.

_Dear Sakura,_

_If you're reading this note, it means you_

_found the "special" item I've left for_

_you that I'd told you about. I hope that_

_you enjoy this special gift from me to you!_

_p.s. I want details tomorrow about it!_

_-Ino_

Sakura just shook her head of all the embarrassing things Ino would do to her when she told her friend about it. Sakura simply held the lingerie up and sighed at how beautiful it was. She finally slipped it on and went to go lye down on the bed. She was on her butt wither her knees bent and her hands behind her so she was sitting up. (The lingerie she's wearing is this - h t t p : / / c l o u d . l b o x . m e / I m a g e s / v / 2 0 0 9 0 5 / l s m l 1 2 4 2 8 1 2 7 9 3 5 6 2 . j p g).

"Oh Sasuke! You can come in now!" she chirped but still kept her seductive tone.

When Sasuke entered the bedroom his eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Sakura noticed how he seemed to stiffen at the beautiful black and red lingerie she was wearing.

"Hey birthday boy… can you help me take this off?" she asked in her most voluptuous and sexily seductive tone while putting one finger to her lip.

Sasuke smirked at her saying "I've never seen this side of you before, but I like it."

Sakura giggled as Sasuke slowly crept up from the foot of the bed and nestled in between her legs and then began to passionately kissing her again. Sasuke saw how her eyes were being glazed over by a lustful haze.

"Are you sure you want to be my birthday present?" He asked her still a bit edgy himself.

Yes, he wanted her, but he didn't want her if she wasn't ready. He didn't necessarily want to hurt her or cause her any emotional stress.

"Yes" she answered, "I'm positive."

Sasuke could sense that there was no uncertainty in Sakura's voice so he crashed his lips onto hers, letting his own doubts dissolve while his hormones kicked in. As he began to grind into her she started panting and her cheeks were tinting red from the excitement. Sasuke cupped her face with one of his hands while he slid the other into the black lace of her lingerie and popped her breasts out of the outfit. Sakura cried in ecstasy as began to suck on them. He took the hand that had been cupping Sakura's face and slid it down to cup one of Sakura's breasts.

Sasuke finally got irritated with her outfit and tore it off throwing it to the floor. He trailed kisses down her leg from the inside of her thigh to her knee then undid her boots and tossed them carelessly to the floor. He let out a growl before he decided to finish what he started several weeks ago when he first met her. Tonight would be the night that he would finally get what he wanted from the first day he laid eyes on the pinkette.

"_I want __her__"_ he growled mentally to himself as he made another move forward.

He slowly led his hand down to the entrance of her womanhood and circled it around the entrance making her moan with anticipation.

"Don't tease me!" she hissed obviously annoyed with the pleasure she was being forced to wait for.

Sasuke just smirked and slid two fingers inside her and crashed his lips into hers before she could moan anymore. She was forced to moan in his mouth. The vibrations from her sensual growling in his mouth only forced him to be even further driven over the edge of sexual ecstasy. He felt himself line his bulging membrane at Sakura's entrance. Sakura remembered Ino saying how the first time hurts like a bitch, so she immediately grabbed onto Sasuke draping her arms around his neck and pulling herself up so that her face could rest in the crook of his neck.

He could sense her fear so he said "just hold onto me and tell me when it doesn't hurt anymore."

Sakura nodded while her face was still nestled into the crook of his neck. Sasuke lowered himself so that Sakura was lying flat and was comfortable then took a deep breath and with one swift movement he thrust inside her causing her to cry out in sheer bliss and pain.

"ahhhHHH!" she yelled.

Sasuke cast her a concerned glanced even though he was being eaten alive with his own pleasure. He simply swapped positions so Sakura was on top and he wrapped his arms around her to help comfort her while she got used to him being inside of her. Sakura could feel his heartbeat from the pulsing she felt inside of her seeping sex from his throbbing cock. It was only a few minutes before Sakura couldn't feel the pain anymore. When Sasuke felt her relax and stop whimpering, he gently raised her up so she was straddling his hips. He gently put his hands on her hips and lifted her up and then pulled her down onto him again and again. Sakura almost went limp from the pleasure of it all. As Sasuke picked up the pace she felt a knock growing in her stomach. She couldn't help but cry out in colorful vocabulary as she had and orgasm that triggered Sasuke's as well.

When the waves of pleasure left her she collapsed on top of Sasuke as limp as a dead person. Sasuke smirked at her then pulled out. She winced for a moment from suddenly feeling so empty from him not being inside her anymore. Sasuke could tell that she was going to hurt in the morning, because she was making shapes on his chest and whispering seductively in his ear… so then came round 2.

_**To Be Continued...**_

* * *

OMG! I MADE IT ALMOST 5,000 WORDS LOMNG! I'm so happy! ^^

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed the smut scene at the end. That's the first one I've done in this story since the "almost" lemon scene at the beginning. Be sure to R&R and tell me what you tink! Your reviews always make me smile you guys are the whole reason I write these stories! So I love hearing from you all!

I've responded to the reviews from the last chapter below!

* * *

**theonesakura: **haha I try to not make him TOO cute… because then it's not Sasuke :3

**Twisted Musalih:** glad you liked it!

**Hasumi-chan16:** hahaha I knew that it would add a great element to the story xDDD

**JustSmile:** haha I'm glad your in love! Please continue to write reviews for me! ;D

I love it when I discover new readers! Because then I know that people are reading this! xDDD

**Ikuto'slover1112:** teehee I know he doesn't really blush a lot, in fact, he's really not supposed to xD but I figured that it would be funny and it was the appropriate time I mean come on! He pulled his boxers out in front of everyone! xDDD

**xXNinXGalXx:** ahahahaha! You actually had time to type all those "Update"s? That's priceless! xDD normally I'd just put "N/A" for one that just said "update" but the fact that you were so original and put it in ALL CAPS and typed it like 50 times… I think you earn a round of applause! xDDD

**HinataHyuuga211:** haha nice! I would love to visit the west coast again, but sorry girly, the trip's quite a "$" burner so I'm going to have to wait at least until I'm an adult before I go back again probly. It was fun though going out there! Haha maybe next time we can meet up and you'll get to see one of your favorite author's face to face ;D

**Reignashii:** well haha yea. I honestly couldn't think when I wrote that chapter. I at least gave my apologies by making that embarrassing scene with him pulling out the boxers, but I couldn't really think of much to do. I got some old women gossiping, the brother and cousin tag teaming him, the high strong father… couldn't really think of much else to be honest! xDDD

**Mi3staR:** hahaha sorry if I went overboard. It's just that your review was so thorough that it made me feel like I could improve something. "update soon!" doesn't really tell me what I can fix to make my writing better now does it?

Anwyaz, his family did get me actually! Haha jks… kinda… it sorta drained me of my crativity. I had to drink one of the Mountian Dew Voltage things they just came out with in order to get some more energy and crazy ideas to write in! Haha and I tried incorporating Hinata a little more in this chapter. She's officially with Naruto… or almost… I'm not sure, but he isn't really lonely anymore. Neither is Kiba for that matter in this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Tell me what you think! :DDD

**MichiiHaru-Chan:** hahaha thank you! But Naruto was angry because he wasn't getting any answers he needed. If you noticed he wasn't angry when he dealt with Lee, he was actually trying to escape! xDD ahaha!

**Sakura-PetalBlossom:** how was Sakura annoying you? Could you be a little more specific so I can fix it for ya? :3

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only:** hahaha hopefully! They are jolly good fun! Ne? haha well I'm glad you found it humorous :) tell me what you think of this chappy! ^^

**Brooklyn-King00: **thank you! I'm flattered! =D

Ahahaha well I finally got a lemon in on this chapter! I was actually not even thinking about that stuff. I was really trying to develop on the plot line! So thanks for reminding me! =D and the DO share a bed, they just don't really do anything to each other at night… haha xD and I think I might find some awkwardly funny way for him to model the boxers… then Gaara walks in! o_0 dun dun DUNNNN!

**vic1130:** thanks!


	9. Today, Two Years Ago

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto. I would just appreciate it if you realize that this plot line is original and ALL mine.

Hey guys! GUESS WHAT?

I'M BACK BAY BAY! I'm sorry that I've been gone for so long with school and crap I've been trying to bring my grades up lately and that doesn't seem to be going as good as I planned. Although today at school I got especially bored and I wasn't able to concentrate on ANYTHING so I was able to write some of my fanfic! I already had 80% of this one written anyway so I just decided to type it up and then add the ending onto this chapter after I type what I have written. It's been so long! I'm terribly sorry for the wait! I know that school will continually cause my postings to be erratic so please forgive me. Last night I post an InuYasha fic and that was my first posting in over a month! So please please PLEASE! Forgive me! I also wound up dropping color guard so don't worry about that. And I've been single and boyfriend-less since the end of July, so I pretty much have a lot more time to spend on writing my stories for you people. I really do think that this is becoming an addiction :3. Whenever I watch a really good anime I always wind up having to write at least one fanfic about it. However I haven't gotten any progress with my Aquarion fanfic :/ but it's not like a lot of people were reading it anywayz I was thinking about just taking it off, but I decided I'd just put the description as "temporarily suspended" or w/e so no one would expect an update for a LONG time. :3

Anywayz, enough with my little chit-chat. ON WITH THE STORY!

PLEASE REMEMBER TO R&R!

A

Sakura woke up the next morning with a burning pain between her legs. As she stood up she almost fell to the floor in pain. If it weren't for a certain Uchiha walking into the room she _would've_ hit the floor. When Sakura caught her bearings she sighed at the prospect of not having dance class today. She only had a few core classes.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" he asked with a raised brow.

Sakura just winced in pain as she tried to stand-up she knew what it was from. It was from the countless rounds they went at it last night. She only clearly remembered five, but she knew they'd done it more times than that. Sasuke continued to cast her sideways glances as they made their breakfast. After they'd finished eating, Sasuke had made a conclusion after silently observing her for the past half hour.

"You hurt from last night, don't you?"

Sakura looked shocked for a moment then looked down at her palms before muttering "yea…" while her cheeks turned rosy red.

Sasuke just kept his blank façade as he said "I guess I'll walk you to your classes…"

Sakura only nodded, still slightly embarrassed at what her friends were going to say about it. She knew that her 'strange' walk wasn't going to go unnoticed. She put her dishes in the sink then grabbed her book bag and waddled to the door.

As Sasuke watched her walk down her walk down the hall he had mixed emotions. He was proud that he was able to do _that_ well, but he wasn't happy that he'd unintentionally inflicted physical pain on someone that he loved. In fact, "love" was one of the words he'd been pondering. _Did_ he love her? He'd taken away her virginity, so he hoped that he loved her. He just couldn't help how much he cared for her. He was always possessive/over protective of her, and didn't even realize it half the time.

"You coming or not?" Sakura shouted from down the hall while staring at a spaced out Sasuke.

Sasuke snapped out of his trance and walked to the end of the hall where Sakura was, then they both walked outside to go to their class. Sasuke noticed the sideways glances being cast towards Sakura, and he noticed how she was purposely _trying_ to ignore them.

"_I knew I should've just skipped school today…"_ Sakura mumbled mentally to herself.

She kept waddling alongside Sasuke. Eventually they arrived at their class. Sasuke sat next to Sakura and they both were acting as if nothing was wrong.

Sakura felt a presence behind her then a whisper in her ear, "Nice penguin dance."

Sakura almost jumped out of her skin from the scare. When she turned around she came face to face with her friend Ino then scowled. Sakura knew all to well that Ino knew why she was in pain 'down-there'.

"Are you surprised forehead? It's rather obvious" Ino retorted to Sakura's glare.

Sakura just kept boring hold through Ino as if her eyes were daggers. The only thing Ino did back was smirk. She could tell from Sakura's pengui9n waddle that she and Sasuke had 'done it' the night before. She could tell if someone was chaffing because they would wince when they walked, and Sakura was all out waddling. This only means one thing, that she had lost her virginity to Sasuke and went more than 2 rounds, so she had inflicted pain upon herself.

"You better keep quiet pig" Sakura sneered from behind her gritted teeth.

"Whatever" was Ino's response as she walked away to take her seat.

A

When Sakura go back to the dorm she went to the medicine cabinet and took out a birth control pill then swallowed it. As she looked back in the mirror she zoned out, scared about the future. She had gotten some birth control pills since she was in high school on case she ever needed them…

"So you're on the pill?" Sasuke asked while leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom.

Sakura looked over at him then nodded absent mindedly, but she wasn't prepared for his next question.

"Why?"

Sakura looked up from the floor and into his eyes not quite knowing what or how to answer his unexpected question. Then she just made up some excuse.

"It would just be a hassle right now to have a kid… financially and time0wise."

"Have you forgotten?" Sasuke asked, "Money is no object to me."

Sakura bit her lip, unsure of what to say next. Sasuke could tell that she didn't want to answer, but he did let her know how he felt on the matter.

"You know… I wouldn't mind having a kid" Sasuke told her as he pushed himself off the bathroom doorframe and walked into the bedroom.

He was getting dressed in semi-formal attire to go attend to his night club. He went almost every night, even if Sakura didn't have work. She didn't have work tonight, but Sasuke didn't want to just leave her here while she was like this.

"You're coming with me tonight. You're not staying here like this."

"Oh relax, I'll lock all the doors."

Sasuke didn't want to argue with her so he just said nothing. He only told her to lock the door behind him before he walked out of the dorm room to go to work.

When Sasuke arrived in the upper room that over looked the club he found Kiba, Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto already there.

"You're all early" he stated unemotionally, but was actually rather surprised.

"We…" Naruto started not quite certain about how to say the rest of his statement, "we're worried about Sakura…"

Sasuke made himself a quick drink then turned around to face them all saying "there's no need to worry about her, she's fine."

Naruto scowled and crossed his arms before asking "then why was she hobbling around today? You _obviously_ did something to her Teme!"

"Worry about your own woman" was Sasuke's reply.

As soon as Sasuke said that Naruto's cheeks turned red. Sasuke knew Naruto and Hinata were seeing each other. It wasn't a secret, to him. However, everyone else in the room just turned to face Naruto with a somewhat surprised look on their face. No one knew the dobe had it in him to get a girlfriend. They all thought he was too stupid. They all though he was too stupid to have one.

"You know" Shikamaru said while turning towards Naruto, "A girlfriend is a big responsibility. You have to feed her, care for her, buy her stuff, listen to her pointless gossiping."

"You make a girlfriend sound like a pet" Sasuke commented dryly.

Neji smirked while Kiba laughed. It seemed that some guys really _did_ consider their girlfriends as "pets". However, Sasuke didn't think of Sakura as a pet, a responsibility yes, but a pet, no. Who knew what Shikamaru considered Temari to be, but Sasuke was pretty sure that nobody else thought like that.

A

Back at home Sakura was doing some homework and making herself some dinner. She had two essays due tomorrow and she was only on the rough drafts. She hadn't even started typing them up on her laptop yet. Later on into the evening she had taken a shower, put on her pajamas (fuzzy shorts, tank top, and slippers), and had her wet hair dripping on her shoulders. She was now typing up one of her essays while sipping on her coffee. When she was about to finish typing up her first essay, the doorbell rang. She got up to answer the door and found Gaara standing there with his normal blank expression.

"Nii-kun! I didn't expect to see you!" she gasped.

Gaara let himself into the dorm room and Sakura closed the door behind him. Gaara was just walking around the place as if he were looking for something. Before Sakura could ask him anything, he let himself into the bedroom and just stood there. Sakura knew the lack of movement wasn't a good sign, so she slowly made her way to the bedroom and stifled a gasp. The lingerie she used the night before was just on the floor by the bed.

"What… the hell…" were the only three words Gaara let escape from his mouth from behind barred teeth.

"I can explain!" Sakura shouted as she stood her ground.

Gaara turned around to face her with a stern expression strewn across his features. He wasn't at all pleased by the current situation.

"I knew when I saw you waddling around school that something like this had happened" Gaara seethed as he scowled so fiercely that his eyes were forced shut.

Sakura had to use every last whim of her will power to keep herself from running out of the dorm and away from her brother. She loved him to pieces, but she couldn't even breathe from all the tension in the air. She couldn't stand to think that her brother was disappointed in her.

"Gaara…" she muttered from behind her quivering lips, "It's not his fault, it's mine. I wanted this…"

Gaara's eyes snapped open only to land on the face of his teary eyed sister/ He almost felt a pang of guilt wrench in his gut as he saw the first tear roll off her cheek only to splatter on the hardwood floor. One tear followed another until it seemed that her face was lined with rivers. Gaara extended his arms and wrapped them around Sakura's petite frame and pulled her close to him.

"I still want to kill him…" Gaara whispered in her ear earning a giggle from his sobbing sister.

A

Sasuke came home later that night after work and found the dorm disturbingly quiet, a little _too_ quiet for him. He slowly and warily set his keys down on the counter then found a note right next to where he set them down. His eyes carefully scanned each line as they narrowed.

_Sasuke,_

_I don't know when you plan on proposing to my little sister, but I won't let you continue to 'fool' around with her this way. I already took care of her tonight and she's asleep, so don't wake her up._

_You better hope I don't see you in person anytime soon._

_-Gaara_

Sasuke wasn't at all happy about being threatened, but what was he supposed to do? Beat Gaara up? He's Sakura's _brother_ for kami's sake!

Now knowing why it was so quiet Sasuke wasn't as cautious but he did his best to move silently so as not to wake the worn-out pinkette. When he entered the bedroom he casually tossed his jacket to the side and stripped down to his boxers then burrowed himself under the covers next to Sakura. She was completely comatose. If not for the subtle rise and fall of her chest, Sasuke would've thought she was dead. He took one last glance at her before turning the lights out and going to sleep.

A

When Sasuke woke up Sakura was gone. He figured that she had class, but she didn't. It was December 24th, and it was the 2nd year anniversary of her parents' death. She planned on visiting them at the cemetery. She wanted to spend the whole day in front of their tombstones drowned in her memories of them. She knew Gaara and Sassori would be there too. Not the whole day of course. They had place to be it was Christmas Eve after all. Sakura drove up to the gates of the cemetery and found that her brothers were already there waiting for her. She parallel parked the car on the sidewalk then plodded up to them. They all stayed silent in understanding, none of them really wished to say anything. Gaara took Sakura's left hand in his, putting his left hand in his jacket pocket. Sassori took her right hand and put his right hand in his pocket. Now hand in hand, the three all silently strode towards the two tombstones that were side by side. Sakura was their baby sister, so that's why she was in between them and receive their sympathetic sideways glances. She had only been 17 when it happened, so she had to live with Sassori for a year since he was in better financial state than Gaara. But still loosing her parents before she was even a full-fledged adult took its toll on her mind.

"I miss them…" Sakura whispered under her breath.

Sassori felt pools starting to well up in his eyes, but fought the urge to cry as he said "me too."

They had been standing there for two hours when Gaara said "I have some last minute shopping to do, so I need to go."

Sassori nodded and Sakura remained stoically still. She felt the warmth of her brother in her left hand leave as she heard snow crunch away in the distance. The stinging cold caused her to shove her hand back in her pocket. Sassori noticed her sudden movement and looked at her warily from his peripheral vision. She could feel his gaze on her, but she didn't even care. She was already submerged in the sea of memories and 'what if's.

"Stop it" Sassori grunted, "There was nothing anyone could do. If you're going to blame someone, blame the drunk driver who hit them."

Sakura snapped out of her trance and looked at her oldest brother's stern facial expression. He seemed rather determined then sad, but Sakura still held her silence, she was refusing to speak a word. Something inside of her just made her think that if she spoke, she would throw up from the intense sadness she was feeling. It was crippling her.

Time continued to pass for a while until Sassori said :I need to go too, but I don't want to leave you here."

Sakura looked at her brother once more before telling him "go be with your loved ones, I know they're waiting for you."

Sassori lifted Sakura's chin and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before he walked away. When he got into his car he sat in the driver's seat and wiped his hand over his face while he huffed/sighed and looked out of the window up at the cemetery hill. He then reached for his cell phone and dug through his pocket to find a number Gaara had snooped around for and gotten for him. Sassori dialed the number then waited while he heard the dial tone.

A husky voice on the other end answered the phone before Sassori asked, "Is this Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"This is Sassori, Sakura's brother. I met you twice before, but I need your help" Sassori said to the man on the other end of the phone.

Sasuke had a thing about doing favors, he never like them, but something was tugging at his gut that made him answer "hn."

Sassori was slightly irritated with the one-word answers he was receiving from the Uchiha, but he put-up with it and answered "Sakura's out at the cemetery, and I don't want to leave her there, but I have somewhere I need to be. I knew you might have plans of your own, but would you mind-"

"*Click* _the call has been disconnected please redial the number and try again._"

The line was dead. Sasuke had hung up on him.

"Bastard…" Sassori muttered under his breath

What was he supposed to do now? He had an hour before he needed to get to his home, but he had to do some Christmas shopping first. Right when Sassori was about to get out of the car and take Sakura home kicking and screaming, he saw a black BMW pull up to the cemetery gates. He was stunned when he saw the raven haired Uchiha step out of the car and walk towards the cemetery. Sassori let out a sigh of relief and started his car engine then drove away.

Sasuke walked up the cemetery hill leading to a splotch of pink he saw in the distance. He was careful to conceal his footsteps from the crunching snow.

"You shouldn't be out here alone" the husky voice rang through the crisp winter air.

Sasuke was surprised when almost a minute went by and he received no answer from the pinkette, but he didn't let the shock show itself on his facial features. He simply took a few more steps towards Sakura and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sasuke noticed the slight flinch her body made as a reaction. But Sasuke was so wrapped up in Sakura that he didn't notice the names on the two headstones she was kneeling in front of. When finally took notice of them it was as if, even for a second, his eyes softened. He got down on one knee beside her without saying anything else.

As if on queue, Sakura whispered a vague explanation, "A drunk driver… killed them on Christmas Eve…"

Sasuke didn't need to know the details, but he knew that because of the distraught state she was in, it hadn't been long since she lost them.

"Two years ago…" Sakura said, now answered Sasuke's un vocalized question.

Sasuke wasn't quiet Sure what to do. Should he comfort her? Or would it be less detrimental to keep his distance from the emotional pinkette. Right when Sakura was going to ask why the Uchiha was even here, her phone buzzed in her back pocket. She flipped the lid up and read the text message.

_I hope you like your Christmas present, I sent him to take care of you since Gaara and I had to leave. I hope you don't mind that I didn't wrap it up and put a bow on it._

_Love your dearest oldest brother,_

_Sassori_

Sakura felt her eyes go teary, even though she thought she'd already cried herself dry. But these weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of some slight joyous feeling. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she knew it was something special. Her brother had "sent" her a Christmas present. The only thing Sakura couldn't figure out is how Sassori got the Uchiha brat to come in the first place. He was hard to deal with, especially when he only used one-syllable answered and grunting sounds to hold a conversation, but she was grateful anyway.

Sasuke knew this was her time of need. She needed a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, and arms to hold her. He just knew that she was going to lose it sooner or later.

"You know I'm here if you need me" Sasuke stated rather bluntly.

Sakura nodded slowly as she flipped the lid of her cell phone shut whispering, "I've been well informed of that."

Sasuke just raised an inquisitive brow at her comment. He assumed that there must have been something in that text message, but he didn't know what.

"Let's go home…" Sakura whispered as she rose up to her feet.

Sasuke pushed himself up off the ground with one hand and then took Sakura's and walked to the car with her.

A

When Sasuke had driven back to the dorms he was about to get out of the car when he realized something, he hadn't been home in ages. Not the main Uchiha house/mansion, but his own home that he'd bought. He was sure that his family had broken into the place and fixed it up with decorations. He looked over to Sakura who was in the passenger seat fast asleep.

"_I'm sure she wouldn't mind waiting a little longer to celebrate Christmas…"_ he thought to himself as he put the car in reverse and pulled it out of the dormitory parking lot.

He headed in the direction of his home and thought of all the things he was going to get her for Christmas. He could just shop online while she slept and they would be delivered the next day. He was in no shortage of money to afford such luxuries.

"_I'm going to give her the best Christmas she's ever had…"_ he told himself.

A

_**To Be Continued…**_

A

I'm SOOOOOO sorry that I've taken forever to update! I hope that I haven't kept you guys waiting too long. I also am going to try and update some of my other stories. I'm really sorry that I haven't written lately. I've just been so busy reading other people's fanfictions that I haven't had time to write my own :3

I hope that you all can forgive me. Anyways. I've answered your reviews below (if they merit a response) if it's N/A then it means that there's nothing I can respond to so write something better next time.

A

**autumn4real:** lol ikr? I just couldn't resist!

**nicolerogersXX:** glad to hear it! I always strive for a clear picture of what's happening ;)

It makes it that much more interesting! ^^

**jinx120: **thank you!

**jhayride: **N/A

**vic1130:** glad to hear it!

**Bulla49:** I did update. Sorry it wasn't ASAP thought xD

**kaysshi: **hahaha ikr? (try and write more next time I would love to hear what you think!)

**Mi3staR:** hahahahaha very nice! And I hope it did make up. No lemons in this one, but there's some fluff at the graveyard/cemetery xD and I don't see it much either xD

**Twisted Musalih: **N/A (again)

**Hasumi-chan16:** thank you! And thanks for pointing that out :3 I must have been tired or something xD

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only:** hahaha I try not to do that stuff. I'll pair them up, but I tend not to get too into their relationship and focus more on SasuSaku, because it annoys me when I want to read about one couple only but I have to put up with and read like ten other couples relationships in addition and have to wind up skipping some of the story to read the parts I want to. So, sorry if that's not what you had in mind, but that's just my style of writing. And thanks for the cheers! Haha ikr?


	10. Merry Christmas

Hey guys! Sorry it's been like, well, forever. I decided to upload this on Christmas and it's taken me like months to write it. I'm sorry if there are still a few typos in it. I didn't have a computer to type it up on until today :D cause i got a little "pocket computer" that's quite nice actually. The keyboard is small as crap, but it's tiny-ness will allow me to take it more places to type up my stories. Hope you guys enjoy reading this!

PLEASE R&R! ^(^0^)^

* * *

Sasuke quietly and carefully picked Sakura up out of the car. He closed the door with his foot and carried her up to the house.

"Master Sasuke" the old maid called but lowered her voice after seeing the sleeping pinkette in his arms.

Sasuke nodded then entered the house. He walked up a grand staircase to the large double doors right at the top. The maid opened them for him and Sasuke set Sakura down on the larger-than-king sized bed. He then walked out of the room and closed the double doors. When he took a better look around he saw just how much Christmas-spirit had polluted his house. Christmas wasn't exactly his _favorite_ holiday. It usually meant tons of business parties where he'd have to formally meet his father's fellow co-workers and potential business partners. But for Sakura's sake he'd make it special.

"I hope she isn't another one of you 'conquests' young man" the old maid reprimanded him as if he were her own son, "You don't come home for months then show up with a strange woman just like last time!"

"She's not Karin…" Sasuke muttered angrily.

This maid wasn't his mother, but she did always keep him in line. Karin was also the last girl Sasuke brought home. He almost considered getting in a relationship with her until she up-and-left one night emptying a couple thousand dollars from his wallet. He never saw her after that, but he knew she was somewhere local. She wouldn't waste the money she stole on traveling to somewhere else.

Sasuke ignored the maid's rambling and lecturing as he strode down the steps to the kitchen. He took a plain drinking glass and put it on the counter. When he walked over to the refrigerator he wasn't surprised when he opened it. It was full of eggnog. The servants loved it. They'd gather at night sometimes when they were done with their chores and they'd drink it. Sasuke wasn't a fan of eggnog either, he preferred sparkling apple cider for the fall and winter holidays. He closed the fridge door and decided he'd just have some water. He turned the faucet on and filled up his glass.

While he was chugging its contents down he heard the maid yell at him, "Master Sasuke! How many times must I tell you that drinking top water is bad for you?"

Sasuke wasn't in the mod. He just twitched his eyebrow while he walked upstairs. He was about to close the door when he stopped suddenly. He looked over his shoulder and noticed the maid was still rambling, so he told her "I need your servants to go last second Christmas shopping, and there's something special I need you to get for me. I don't trust any other servant to get it for me…"

* * *

Sakura woke up the next morning in a haze. She had a serious migraine and she felt emotionally hollow. She stumbled around not knowing where she was. When she managed to find her way towards the double doors she accidentally lost her balance and fell forwards busting through the doors landing on her side.

"Oh my!" shouted a maid who was literally inches from the door.

Sakura just grounded and tried to pull herself back up to her feet. She was about to ask where she was when the haze slightly cleared and she saw the Christmas decorations everywhere. The vivid red and green colors caught her attention and momentarily filled her emotionless, hollow body with the feeling of contempt. She clasped her hands to her chest then realized she wasn't wearing the same outfit. She looked down and saw that she was in a Santa negligee. She blushed furiously then turned to go back into the room and change into something more modest, but she stopped when someone spoke to her.

"I see you're finally up…" a husky, seductive voice whispered in her ear.

Sakura felt shivers shoot down her spine as the region between her legs began to tingle. She didn't turn around because she knew who it was, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around her.

"G-good morning" she stuttered.

Sasuke smirked against the skin of her neck. He loved having this control over her. Just his voice could make her want him.

"It isn't morning" he told her flatly.

Sakura thought for a moment then asked, "Then what this _is_ it?"

Sasuke smirked against her skin as he said "Christmas."

Sakura scowled and twitched then muttered, "I meant the hour…"

"It's almost 1" he whispered with an undertone of amusement.

Sakura spun around, still in his arms, and poked his chest hissing, "Why didn't you wake me up? Gaara was supposed to call me! Now I'll have to explain to him why I didn't answer because I'm at your mansion! Do you _want_ him to hate you? Because it sure seems that way!"

Sasuke let her go wiping a frustrated hand over his face. She always had a bad habit of ruining the mood he set. He wanted Christmas to be romantic for her, hoping she'd forget the sorrow from yesterday, but instead she was stressing over something he _knew_ wasn't important. What he hadn't told her was that he heard her cell phone ringing early this morning and answered it for her. He had already informed Gaara about the situation and he didn't seem the least bit mad. Sasuke also figured that Gaara would inform Sassori, and he was the nicer sibling. Gaara was the only one who would ever get angry at Sasuke, because he was always stern like that. Sassori was the more carefree, 'you-only-live-once' kind of sibling. He kept tabs on Sakura, but never stepped out of the shadows and confronted her on anything, unlike Gaara, who felt it was his _job_ to do so.

Sasuke decided enough was enough when he saw her frantically searching for her phone yelling, "Where is it? I know I left it here!"

Sasuke pulled the phone out of the pocket of his navy blue pajama pants asking, "You mean this?"

Sakura stomped over and angrily snatched the phone from the Uchiha's hand hissing, "Why did you have it?"

"Because it went off and you were asleep."

"Did you answer it?" she asked frantically.

"Hn"

"And"

"He doesn't care" Sasuke said flatly looking off to the side in a bored manner.

"Who?" She asked pretty sure that she knew the answer.

"Gaara"

"Oh…" she said as she set the phone on the nightstand and let the awkwardness of the situation set in.

Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck before asking, "You coming downstairs?"

Sakura thought for a moment, and then realized she didn't have any objections so she shrugged then walked back over to him and followed him back down the stairs. When she looked to her left she saw the living room with an at least 20 foot tall Christmas tree. The ceilings were 30 feet high so it was able to contain the tree perfectly. There were two simple burgundy couches that complemented the white carpet. She sat on one of the couches then pulled a blanket over her bare legs. Sasuke lifted up her legs and snuck under the blankets with her. He snapped his fingers and in a few moments a tray holding a metal teapot and two mugs was placed in front of them.

"Spoiled brat…" Sakura growled under her breath, but Sasuke heard it.

Smirking, Sasuke replied, " It's peppermint hot chocolate. I was told it was your favorite."

Sakura smiled and blushed, not knowing how to answer. After she took a sip of the specialty hot chocolate she let a soft "mmmmmm" escape her lips. The delicious aroma added to how wonderful it tasted. The chocolate seared her taste buds while it left a minty aftertaste after she'd swallowed it. It left her throat tingling with pepperminty goodness.

"I take it you like it" he said flatly only to be answer by another "mmmmm"

Sasuke smirked while shaking his head. He didn't know what he was supposed to do with this girl.

'_Cherish her…'_ his inner thought.

After the hot chocolate was completely gone, Sasuke got her attention then pointed to the tree. Sakura examined the star at the top then let her eyes wander downward until they landed on the presents at the bottom. She was overwhelmed when she saw them. So much so that she gasped at him.

"You didn't!" She screeched, "I didn't get you anything!"

Sasuke gave her a knowing smirk then told her, "You didn't have to."

Sakura felt bad seeing all these presents under the tree for her, and she felt so horrible knowing that she didn't get Sasuke anything for Christmas.

"I can't accept these…" she told him in a sad whisper.

"Why not?" he asked dryly, but was thoroughly confused.

"Because I didn't get you anything" she finally replied.

"That doesn't matter," he told her flatly, "_You_ can just be my Christmas present."

"B-but I was already your birthday present!" she stuttered.

"You never get old" he said to her monotonously, but wrapped his arms around her petite frame.

Sakura's face was crimson red from his blunt statements. She wasn't exactly sure how to react.

"I can just take you out later and you can get me something if you want" he told her.

Sakura nodded. She wasn't too happy with herself at the moment. Not only did she blow off Christmas shopping, but Sasuke had seen her in her most vulnerable state. She hated people seeing her when she was weak, even her two brothers.

"You going to open your presents anytime soon?" he asked yawning.

"Uh… yeah…" Sakura managed to leak out as she walked over towards the Christmas tree flooded with wrapped boxes.

Sakura picked up the first box that was wrapped in red with a gold ribbon. When she opened it she put her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp. It was a rather small and flat object, s she hadn't expected much, but she was dead wrong. In her hand, she was holding a small, framed pictured. Sasuke's mother had taken the picture back at Sasuke's birthday party at the main house. You saw Sasuke's father talking business with someone in the background, Itachi and Shisui holding his Uchiha boxers above his head with mischievous smiles and Sasuke just standing with his weight shifted on one leg just standing there indifferently with his arms crossed looking at the camera as Sakura stood next to him with her hand over her mouth and her face rosy red from trying not to laugh at the antics his brother and cousin who were displaying the undergarments for everyone to admire. She still had a hard time not laughing

"That's from my mom. She tought you would like to have it" Sasuke stated somewhat embarrassed in a whisper.

Sakura couldn't say anything, but laughed as she just nodded and walked over to one of the side tables next to the couch and set the picture down. After she'd looked at it for some time, she walked back over to the tree. She bent down and picked up a rather large box wrapped in silver with a red bow. She almost thought there was nothing in it until she shook it and heard something bopping around inside. When she lifted the top off she saw keys to something. When she re3ached down and got them, she held them up and jingled them at Sasuke with an inquiring expression.

"Take a look outside" he said flatly as he pointed to a window directly above him.

Sakura walked over then climbed over Sasuke to stand on the top of the burgundy sofa. She bent the blinds of the window and almost fainted. There in the large driveway, was a magenta colored Lexus.

"You bought me a _**CAR?**_" she shrieked as she fell and landed on Sasuke's lap.

"I can take it back if you don't want it" he told her with a smirk.

Sakura blushed when she realized she was in his lap then stuttered, "no no no no no…. I didn't mean it like that…"

"Then what _did_ you mean?"

"Well isn't this a lot of trouble?"

"No."

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"Yes."

So it _is_?"

"No."

"Which is it?" She yelled, "Yes or no?"

Sasuke face-palmed himself then muttered, "It's _not_ any trouble Sakura…"

Sakura took a deep breath then went back over to the tree. The other presents she got were a brand new, newest model cell phone, a pair of flowery slippers, a diamond necklace, multiple evening gowns (like cocktail dresses), a new iPod with 160GB, brand-name clothing, sweets, and toe-socks. As well as a plasma screen TV for her dorm room. She'd gotten several other numerous presents, but they weren't as important as the last one.

"You missed one" he said after Sakura had thrown all the wrapping paper away that was strewn about the living room.

"What do you mean?" she asked looking under the tree and seeing no more presents for her to open.

Sasuke shook his head then got off the sofa and walked over to the tree and pointed to what she thought was an ornament, but when she took a closer look she saw that it was a little black box with a red ribbon on the top. She carefully removed the box from dangling off one of the tree limbs and opened it. She felt like everything came to a halt. Her stomach came up to her throat. Her mind went blank. Her breath hitched. She had no idea what was going on. Sasuke could tell she was panicking so he went ahead and got down on one knee. Sakura looked away from the ring and at Sasuke who was down on one knee.

"Will you marry me?-"

"Why?" she asked suddenly with a rather confused tone of voice.

She barely let him finish 'popping' the question. Sasuke was utterly caught off guard and didn't know if that was a yes or a no.

"Because I love you" he said after a few moments of silence.

"Why did it take you so long to answer?" she asked skeptically.

"Because most girls aren't bratty and obnoxious enough to ask a question back, they either say yes or no."

Sakura crossed her arms looking down at him. She had a look of uncertainty on her face as she held her left hand out towards him.

"Does this mean you say yes?" he asked with one brow raised.

Sakura gulped and looked Sasuke in the eyes and nodded.

"I want you to say it: he told her.

"Yes… I'll marry you…" she whispered.

Sasuke smiled and put the exquisite ring on her finger then he stood up and placed his hands on the sides of her arms and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before wrapping his arms around her and holding her to him.

"Sasuke…" Sakura whispered.

"Hn"

"You can let go now…"

Sasuke recoiled his arms to his sides and headed back towards the burgundy couch.

"You still haven't given me my Christmas present" he snidely informed her with a smirk plastered on his features.

Sakura flushed as she felt his gaze on her, "What?" she asked.

Sasuke shook his head as he motioned for her to come sit in his lap on the couch. She gave him a skeptical look as she made her way over to the sofa. Sasuke had one leg bent leaning against the backrest of the couch, and the other was off the couch with his foot flat on the ground. His back was against the armrest and one arm was supporting the weight of his head while the other was draped across his knee that was against the backrest of the couch. Sakura eventually climbed up on the sofa and into his arms. She rested her head and the palms of her hands on his chest as he draped his arms around her waist.

Sakura knew full well what his intentions were, so she bit her lip before asking, "What now?"

Sasuke smirked as he aligned his mouth to her ear then huskily whispered, "Let me worry about that."

Sakura felt shivers run down her spine as she felt Sasuke's lips slide from her ear to her neck. Sasuke fixed their position so she was straddling his lap. Once he'd heated up her skin from lightly kissing it, he ghosted his lips over her pulse then bit down. Sakura did her best to keep a moan from escaping her lips, but wound up whimpering.

Sasuke smirked then whispered in her "just let me handle it, you just relax and enjoy it this time."

"But I'm s-supposed to be your p-present…" she whimpered as Sasuke continued to tease her neck with his tongue.

Sasuke spoke against her neck saying, "It's more fun to play with you."

"So I-I'm just you C-Christmas toy?" she asked stifling a gasp.

"Hn" he answered her as her moved his lips to hers.

She reveled in the kiss before they parted and he told her, "now stop talking."

Sakura was about to say something back, but his lips crashed back onto hers and she gave into the silence. She was mezmorized by the way his moist lips seemed to be molded just for hers. The only noise she heard was the light sucking and quiet clicking of their lips dancing together. Then he leaned forward causing Sakura to be placed on her back.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, but then he stopped her and told her, "No, you're not doing anything, remember?"

Sakura just scowled but complied none the less by letting him place her hands above her head. After he was sure that she wouldn't do anything, he slipped her flannel shirt that she'd changed into off of her. To his surprise she wasn't wearing a bra, so her supple breasts were completely exposed to his wandering eyes. He wanted to go directly to the source of both their desires, but he want to have fun with her for as long as he was allowed to. His first act of torture started when he ghosted his lips over her bare shoulders and occasionally let his tongue slip out from in between his lips. Sakura's back arched every time his warm tongue came out to greet her exposed skin. Sasuke slowly traveled directly down the valley in between her breasts, down to her naval, and back up again. Sakura thought it sheer torture, Sasuke thought of it as pure entertainment. Her facial expression had a wide variation and the noises she made were music to his ears. Sasuke was about to reach for her pants, when he realized that they were still in the living room. He cursed himself for his impatience, but he improvised instead.

"Come on" he said standing up while gesturing her to straddle him.

She quirked her brow, but got up and did as he requested and he groped her butt and crashed his lips onto hers as he slowly walked up the stairs to his bedroom. Luckily it was the first one directly at the top. When he opened the doors he was careful not to alert Sakura to their movement. He seemed to have successfully put her in a trance from his kisses. He closed the door with his foot and set Sakura down on the bed with him on top of her.

Sakura was shocked by the sudden soft cushioning underneath her and asked "Where are we?"

Sasuke smirked and said "I guess I _am_ that good."

Sakura scowled at his comment, but she was able to look around and tell that they were now in his room. She knew that the Uchiha had a talent for kissing women senseless, but she didn't know he was quite that good. All she knew was that she was in for it now... She was currently lying on his bed topless with no Christmas present to give him, besides herself, which is what she guessed he wanted. Sasuke reached down and slowly devested her of her flannel pajama pants then threw them to the side of the room. After he was happy with where he'd thrown the pinkette's pants he quickly stripped down to his boxers. Sakura didn't know what the Uchiha was planning to do next, but she knew that she was in for a long night. The only obsticle stopping Sasuke now was Sakura's red lace thong. He reconized it as the one that she wore on his birthday when she was his birthday present.

"How do you want me to take it off?" he asked her seductively, but when she shuddered and didn't answer he took matters into his own hands and said "I see how it is."

Sasuke crawled down the covers so his mouth was aligned on the little diamon shaped bead in the middle of the red lace covering the only land to be conquered. He grazed the hem across her waist with his lips then he lightly grasped the middle and pulled the underwear the rest of the way down with his teeth. Sakura couldn't put to words what his tortures were doing to her that moment. She had no idea that he was capable of this kind of seduction. It was almost as if it was a game to him and he had to beat his own high score. Sakura almost gasped when she felt his tounge caress her clit. Sasuke didn't make it stop there he began to run circles around her clit while one of his free hands reached up to grab one of her nipples and slowly mussaged it. Then he crawled back up and mouthed her neck while his thumb took over where his tounge was. Eventually he started to have two of his figners on his other hand slip inside her folds. Sakura arched her back as she felt the first of penitration the whole torture session.

"S-Sasuke!" she gasped.

Sasuke took her gasp as the signal to continue his ministrations further. Eventually he was hovering over her on his forearms and the peak of his manhood was poking at Sakura's seeping sex. Sakura clenched the pillow cover knowing what was coming, before she knew it Sasuke's lips were on hers in a distraction while his seeping sex pierced her to the core. Sakura still shook from the mixture of pain and pleasure. She still wasn't quite used to his large size. She bent and flexed her knees and she squirmed under him in an attempt to get her mind off the pain. Sasuke could tell that kissing alone wasn't helping this time. Eventually she stoped moving in pain and started thrusting against him in pleasure. When Sasuke felt her trying to take more of him in her granted her wish and began slamming into her, venting his own sexual frustration from holding himself back all this time since his birthday.

He knew he couldn't have her anytime andwhere he wanted, but if he could he knew that it would be the death of her because he would constantly be screwing her over.

Her lips were like the most addictive drug, and her body was the most alluring perfume. Sasuke just couldn't get enough of them. When Sasuke felt he was about to loose himself inside her he grunted. Although Sakura couldn't hear it over her own moaning. When they both came Sasuke almost lost all his physical strength and was about to fall on Sakura but managed to catch himself before he could hurt her. Sakura couldn't stand Sasuke's stupid rule any longer and impulsively reached up and pulled Sasuke down to her lips in a passionate kiss. When they parted Sasuke rolled off to the side sweating whie Sakura just panted, "Merry Christmas."

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Hey guys! again, i'm so sorry for taking so long! I hope that i made this chapter long enough! I think it's almost 4,000 even without the opening and ending comment by me :3

I look forward to reading your reviews!


	11. Public Announcement

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey guys! I'm sorry that it's been like several MONTHS since I updated, but I've had a crapload of stuff that's been going on.

The list is this: My best friend got kicked out of her house and slept at my house from Thursday to over the weekend, a sped kid grabbed my boobs in the hallway and set off this huge chain of drama, I figured out a guy friend of mine liked me and I liked him the same way too but he doesn't want to be in a relationship because of 'stress' (personally I think I got him beat in that department), then I fell two weeks behind in my online math class, then I asked the guy friend I liked me to be my valentine, and I had a friend over on Sunday before valentine's day to make cup cakes with me and I made my valentine a giant chocolate heart but he couldn't get my flower :'( what hurt more was that I told him I would take spending time with him over any flower. But whatever, life sux. I hope you like this chapter!

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Sakura woke up to find Sasuke still surprisingly behind her with his arms around her and her nose nested in her hair. She sat up causing his arm to slide off of her as he let out a grunt. Sakura ran a hair through her hair as she slid out of the bed and put some jeans and a t-shirt she had next to the bed. She guessed that he had it brought over from her dorm room. Creeping downstairs, she didn't know what to expect. The clock said 8am, so she supposed some servants were up, but she didn't feel comfortable being up and around in a place that she wasn't at all familiar with. When she walked into the kitchen to find something to eat she nearly jumped out of her skin. She didn't expect anyone to be in the kitchen already making food. There was one old lady who was hustling around the place. Sakura couldn't help but admire show she seemed to be calm and placid while she hectically managed so many pots and pans that were simmering, boiling, and cooking things. She slowly made her way over to the side bar on the other side of the counter.

"Good morning" the old lady greeted her with a weary expression.

Sakura gave her an odd expression back and asked, "Something wrong?"

The maid just shook her head as she convinced the pinkette, "Nothing dear, just a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"Oh" Sakura said covering her mouth with one of her hands, "Sorry if I was distracting you."

"Not at all" the maid said indifferently as she stirred a few pots and shifted a few pans.

She was making pancakes, grits, eggs, hash-browns, sausage, bacon, gravy, biscuits, and a few other things Sakura wasn't really familiar with. Sasuke indeed was spoiled to have so many breakfast options, Sakura was sure of that. He had a giant mansion, she wasn't even sure how many servants. The man was set for life and then some. She wasn't much of a gold-digger, but she found herself thinking how secure she would feel knowing that she wouldn't face eviction or other financial difficulties. She was day-dreaming and looking off into the distance and didn't even hear footsteps coming down the stairs, nor when the person sat at the counter next to her.

Sasuke had a blank expression on his face as he turned to face a spaced out Sakura. She seemed happy with whatever she was thinking about, but Sasuke found it time to bring her back down to earth. He stuck his hand out in front of her face and waved it a few times. Sakura snapped out of her trance with a slight jolt then turned and looked at Sasuke then smiled. She hoped that all her morning would be like this; calm, quiet, and serene. Eventually they ate breakfast and Sakura could feel the skin on her stomach being stretched. They also drank some coffee and then went upstairs to get dressed. Sasuke knew what he had to do next. He had to take her back to the main house and announce the engagement. His father told him no later than a day after, so he didn't have much of a choice. There was a big dinner-party taking place at the main house to celebrate the coming of New Year's, the biggest holiday. He was ecstatic, but his father would want to announce it in front of all his co-workers and business partners anyway, so there wasn't much bad about it except for Sakura being put on the hot seat. She wouldn't be embarrassed, but she tended to get a little anxious when too many people were focused on her.

Sasuke walked into the giant bedroom behind Sakura telling her, "I'm going to take a hot shower quickly."

Sakura just nodded. She had some things to take care of herself. She had to call Gaara and Sassori to inform them of the previous night's events, except for, the intimate parts. She shuffled through her purse next to the bed and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts until it landed on Gaara, he had to be first to know or he'd be upset. Her thumb was hovering over the 'send' button with the most hesitation she'd ever experienced in her life. Eventually she pushed the button down and her heart beat faster with ever dial tone she heard resonating in her ear.

"Hello?" a voiced answered on the other end, "Sakura?"

"Yeah" Sakura answered quietly.

"What's wrong?..." Gaara asked with an almost deadly tone.

"Nothing!" Sakura immediately responded defensively.

She was sure that Gaara thought Sasuke must've done something bad to her, which wasn't the case at all.

"Then why do you sound sad?"

"I'm just worried"

"About?"

"How you'll take the news…"

"You're not pregnant are you?" Gaara asked with an irritated tone.

"No, onii-chan…"

"Then what?"

"We're… we're…"

"Yes? Just tell me."

"SasukeandIareengaged!"

"Good"

"You're not mad? At all?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I told him to stop messing around with you if he had no intention of making any commitment, so I'm satisfied that he's finally taking the initiative."

"Oh! Thank you onii-chan! Are you going to tell Sassori?"

"He's your problem."

"Thanks…"

**chk

The line went dead and Sakura felt a sense of calm and a slight sense of anger wash over her. She was more than glad that Gaara was actually _happy_, but she was slightly angry because Sassori would be a mushy mess about it and would drive her up a wall, even _after_ she gets married. Although, Sakura did find it kind of nice to have a brother that cared so much about her personal affairs. Well two, they just each had a different way of showing it. She was going to go ahead and call Sassori, but Sasuke came into the room with steam wafting behind him in nothing but a towel. She figured that since Gaara wasn't going to tell him that she could easily just tell him later.

"You going to go take a shower?" Sasuke asked her.

"Sure, why? do I need one?" She asked smelling herself.

Sasuke never told her or asked her if she was getting a shower, so obviously he wanted her to take one, but why?

"We have to go to my parents' house today… to announce the engagement."

"So soon?"

"Aa. My father told me that when I get engaged, I have to make a public announcement no more than a day after. Tonight, there's a dinner party, so it's good timing."

"I see" Sakura said as she closed the lid on her phone, "But I have nothing nice enough to wear to something like that."

"Don't worry about it. I had some dresses picked out for you to choose from. They're on a rack in the closet, there's also other things to go with it."

"Thanks" she said as she slipped her cellphone back into her purse by the bed and went into the bathroom to take a hot shower and get ready for the day.

She felt her throat vibrate as she sighed while the hot water washed over her skin. She had no idea that she was this sore, and had no idea how good hot water could feel. She washed herself from head to toe and made sure to scrub every inch of her scalp and everywhere else. When she felt squeaky clean she completely rinsed off, then wrapped herself in a towel and headed to the closet. She dried her body off and got into a fresh change of underwear then started to towel-dry her hair as best she could. She didn't want water dripping on any of the dresses. She thumbed through all sorts of dresses. They ranged from a modern dress in a Japanese style silk that was mid-thigh, black, with a large cherry blossom tree in the bottom corner with embroiled pink petals all over it (it was short sleeved with three buttons going diagonally from the side neck to the shoulder, like a modern and slightly less formal kimono), and a simple green mid-thigh dress with nothing fancy what so ever. There was even a dress that looked like a ball-gown. What Sakura wound up choosing was the beautiful black mid-thigh kimono business style dress. It was elegant, simple, comfortable, elaborate, and sophisticated. She felt beautiful and would feel like she would impress his business partners that she'd have to meet tonight. She picked black high-heel sandals and put her hair up with chopsticks in a braided bun with a few strands of hair on each side of her head hanging down and framing her face. To top it off she picked a simple pink clutch purse and pink pearl necklace, then dangling onyx earrings. She felt like she looked absolutely beautiful when she walked out into the room.

Sasuke turned around and smirked, he liked it. She had picked out the dress he wanted her to. He knew she would have to meet some of his business partners and the dress suited the occasion perfectly. He didn't even think she needed makeup, but he knew how women were when it comes to that. They think they _always_ need it. He turned his attention away from his wife-to-be and back to fixing his tie. It was a brilliant cobalt blue. He was also wearing a pinstriped suit with a black collared shirt underneath. He looked rather dashing himself. He would've done something with his hair, but it was always in that shape, no matter how much he tried to smooth it down, so he didn't even bother. He sat on the edge of the bed while he tied his dress shoes up and waited for Sakura to put the finishing touches on her make-up. He was actually excited for tonight. He knew that at least his mom would be happy, and he was fairly certain that his dad would be proud. Even though it was only their first year in college, it would be easy for them to do their studies, so there wasn't much to worry about. When Sakura had finished putting on her makeup she put it in her purse then snatched her phone and put that in her purse as well. Sasuke put his phone in his suit's inner pocket and both headed out to the car. He went to the key-box next to the bedroom door and pulled out the keys to his BMW and both went down the grand staircase.

Sakura was about go out the front door when he said, "The car's in the garage."

"Oh" she said as she smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head a little embarrassed.

They both went into the garage and Sakura was about to yell how huge it was, but restrained herself. There were all sorts of cars in there, probably more than 20. Sasuke just shook his head knowing exactly what was going through Sakura's head. She was just too easy to read sometimes. They both hopped in the car and Sasuke drove it to the end of the garage where a giant door opened upwards and he drove out down the driveway. Sakura crossed her arms realizing it was a solid one minute drive to get off the property. She didn't think his property was this big, but apparently she didn't take into account that he had giant gardens lining his five mile long driveway. Once they got up to the main gate, they opened it up for Sasuke, obviously recognizing his BMW. When they were out on the road Sakura realized that she still hadn't called Sassori like she'd intended.

"Can I make a call really quick?" Sakura asked as she shuffled through her purse.

Sasuke nodded and turned off the radio. Sakura flipped her phone open and scrolled through her contacts and found Sassori's number and called it. She heard the dial tone and took several deep breaths before he picked up the other end of the phone. She broke the news to him and he was basically beside himself. Sakura expected as much from him. He was her hopeless romantic brother. He always talked like this. That's why it didn't come as a shock when she got so annoyed by it that she hung up on him.

"Are you sure you should've done that?" Sasuke asked as she slipped the phone back into her purse.

Sakura sighed ten turned to him and said, "If I hadn't then I'd have a terrible headache at your dinner party, and I'd prefer to not have that happen…"

Sasuke shrugged and continued driving. Sakura found the silence between the two of them a bit unbearable so she turned the radio back on and slightly cracked her passenger seat window. Sasuke drove with one hand while he used the other to support his head. It was at least a 45 minute drive to his parents' house, the main Uchiha family house. Sakura supposed that the main Uchiha house was the only house more ridiculous then Sasuke's. When they pulled up to the main family's house, she was proven correct. She'd been there before, but she never really appreciated it because she was too busy focusing on Sasuke's birthday. Now, it was both of them that were the focus.

When Sasuke walked up the front steps he didn't even have time to reach the front door when his mother, Mikoto, jumped out and hugged him. He hugged her back with a slight grin on his face and then nodded in acknowledgement at his father and then simply scowled at his brother. Sakura was still a little shy so she slightly hid behind Sasuke, but he took her hand and pulled her out from behind him.

"I have an announcement to make" he said as he let himself and Sakura inside, "Sakura and I, are engaged."

Mikoto clasped her hands and let out an excited squeal. Itachi just smirked at his younger brother and nodded to his future sister in law with the same smirk. Fugaku just kept his stern expression and gave his congratulations to the two. He told Sasuke to make another announcement to all of his business partners at the large dinner party tonight. There was going to be a large dinner party and everything to celebrate, but Sakura suddenly felt a vibration on her side and realized it was coming from her purse.

"Excuse me, but where is your bathroom?" She asked Mikoto while Sasuke and his father stood in the entry way to the house talking.

"I'll show you dear" Mikoto said as she gently took Sakura's hand and led her down a hallway and then gestured towards a door, "By the way, I can't even tell you how happy I am for the two of you. I knew Sasuke would always pick a nice girl. Even though his ideas of humanity have always been a bit askew, I knew he'd always find a compassionate woman like you who would show him just how much fun life can be. For that I thank you so much."

Sakura's cheeks were slightly tinted with red. She felt so happy that she knew only tears could show just how much her happiness was spilling over. It was like receiving new parents since hers had died. She was becoming part of a whole new family.

"I should be thanking you" she said while bowing at a 90 degree angle towards Mikoto, "You've welcomed me so much, and you never thought bad of me despite finding out that I was one of Sasuke's employees at the night club run by him."

Mikoto put a hand under Sakura's chin and tilted her head upwards as she said, "The past is the past. Everyone has reasons for what they do, and I'm sure you had yours, but that doesn't matter anymore. You're going to become my daughter, so I'll always love you."

Sakura slowly came up from bowing and nodded with a smile at Mikoto and walked into the bathroom. Sakura sat on the toilet and took out her cellphone and saw that she had gotten a text from Ino asking why the hell she wasn't answering her phone. When Sakura bothered to look at her call log, she'd seen that Ino had been trying to reach her all week. They were on leave from classes due to the winter festivities of Christmas and New Years, and Sakura was so caught up in everything that she'd never answered her phone. She knew that she couldn't call Ino so she just texted her back saying that she was at Sasuke's parents' house and that she was going to announce the engagement to all of the Uchiha Corporation's business partners. Of course she had to say that she couldn't talk on the phone and that she'd talk to Ino later that night. She just had to set a reminder on her phone.

When she put her phone back in her purse and walked out of the bathroom she saw that Sasuke was leaning up against the wall near the bathroom door waiting for her. She was surprised and almost frowned; now she was very glad that she didn't call someone. It would sound strange for someone to be talking in the bathroom. Sasuke just smirked knowing that she wasn't going to bathroom but just talking to a friend. All he heard in there were buttons clicking.

"Why are you standing there?" she asked rather suspicious.

Sakura used his foot and pushed off from leaning against the wall and walked over to her saying, "It's a big house and it's easy to get lost. I waited for you so I could show you where the main family room was."

Sakura nodded and walked next to him down the hallway holding in clutch with both hands in front of her. She wasn't used to such wealth. Just a week ago she was living in her cramp dorm room, now she was surrounded by wealth and luxury as well as one of the richest families in all of Japan, and she was marrying one of them! She actually didn't feel like life could get any better. Not only did she have love, what she really wanted all along, but she also had wealth as a bonus. She wasn't a gold-digger by any means, but money did add a bonus of financial security that you really couldn't put a price on.

When she walked into the room she sat on a large two person sofa with Sasuke next to her, across from another two person sofa with Mikoto and Fugaku. Itachi was on a one person arm-chair off to the side. Everyone sat in silence for several minutes until Fugaku couldn't take it anymore.

"So are you two ready for marriage?" Fugaku asked skeptically.

Both of them could feel their cheeks getting warm. That was a blunt and unexpected question, but then again, that was Fugaku.

Mikoto laughed then lightly nudged her husband saying, "Dear don't do that to them! They just got engaged, you're only making things awkward."

"He does it on purpose" Itachi said standing up with a smirk walking over to everyone else, "He's teasing Sasuke because we all know he's pushing it getting hitched before he even gets out of college."

Mikoto glanced up at her eldest son with a reprimanding look on her face. She would have spoken a word or two to him about how his younger brother was going to get married before him which makes him a bit of a disgrace, but her husband beat her to it.

"You have yet to find a woman Itachi. Don't bother commenting on your brother's fortunate circumstances when you yourself have yet to find a woman who doesn't have to be paid to spend time with you" Fugaku said with a smirk knowing full well that he'd probably crossed a line or two.

Surprisingly, Itachi wasn't much fazed. He just shrugged then went back to his recliner. Sasuke couldn't help but let a triumphant smirk grace his features. He didn't tell Itachi off, but he felt like he'd just witnessed an awesome display of his brother getting his butt handed to him.

The conversations and awkward silences carried on through the morning until everyone had noticed Itachi had left and the time was a little bit past noon. They hadn't had lunch yet. Mikoto ushered them all into the dining area out on the patio overlooking the estate's illustrious gardens. Sakura noticed that the garden out back was not only larger than Sasuke's but it was more vibrant and elegant too. She was sure that this was the Garden of Eden if it ever existed.

"Surprised?" Sasuke asked taking a seat next to her.

Sakura didn't bother looking at him but kept staring out at the garden in bewilderment as she replied, "Yes and no."

Sasuke didn't bother asking any other questions. He just let one of his character defining smirks grace his lips. Lunch was served out on the wonderful patio. The rest of the afternoon set the stage for the evening's festivities.

* * *

Sakura was upstairs chatting with Mikoto while the servants were setting up for the party downstairs. Eventually the doorbell started to ring and the party guests began to arrive the next quicker than the one before. Mikoto soon found her hands full. Sakura however, remained upstairs. Fugaku and Sasuke managed to entertain their guests without failure. There were several forms of entertainment. There was a live 'easy listening' band that was hired and played music similar to Jack Johnson, slow dancing songs that were more contemporary than 'classical.' However, his family did have parties that called for that sort of elegance. Sasuke was walking around talking to several business partners, including the Hyuugas. He gave a nod to Hinata and then shook Neji's hand.

"Ordinarily we wouldn't be so formal would we?" Neji rhetorically asked with a smirk.

Sasuke just shrugged then said, "This is a business party. What of it?"

Neji didn't answer but continued to smirk as he urged Hinata to go find companionship elsewhere. He didn't dislike her, but she was always shy at social gatherings. He found that she did a lot better when she was 'thrown under the bus' so to speak.

"I hear there's going to be an interesting announcement" Neji commented without turning his head to look at Sasuke.

Sasuke kept the usual indifferent look on his face as he replied, "Yeah, who told you?"

"Itachi"  
"Did he say anything else?"

"No"

"Good"

Neji just gave Sasuke a wary look. He could tell by seeing flickers of crimson in Sasuke's eyes that he was looking for something, or someone.

"_Damn where __**is**__ she?..."_ he thought to himself as he scanned the entire ballroom. He even took account of the guests out on the balcony. Was she in the garden? He thought so but when he stepped out onto the balcony to get a bird's eye view, he didn't see anyone but a few garden tenants who were watering some flowers, despite the late hour. Sasuke then went back inside and asked his mother.

* * *

"What am I doing?..." Sakura huffed as she flopped back on Sasuke's giant bed.

The room had a nostalgic feel to it. He probably hadn't used it for several years, but she and Mikoto had found a treasure-trove of laughs in photo albums and several other memorabilia scattered across the floor. She honestly didn't know what she was doing. Just one year ago she was about to get out of high school. She didn't have a clue back then that she would be getting married into one of the most wealthiest families in Japan to an incredibly handsome man who truly cared for her. It was only 365 days, but why did it feel like such a giant gap in her life? She wasn't sure herself, but she didn't have time to discover the answer because the door suddenly opened and Sasuke came into the room.

"Why are you still up here?" he asked with his hands in his black dress pants.

Sakura didn't bother sitting up, she recognized his voice easily. She just huffed and grabbed one of his pillows and put it over her face. Sasuke kept a stale look on his face, but knew full well that she was frightened, and _he_ was supposed to do something about it.

"I'm going to be the one talking you know" he tried to comfort her, "You just have to stand there and look pretty."

Sakura found herself slightly smiling from under her pillow covering. He was right, she was just nervous about having so many eyes on her. She was sure that she would have to talk to some of the Uchiha business partners, but what would they really ask her? 'What products do you use in your hair'?. Sakura giggled at the thought. Sasuke smirked when he heard her quiet, self-laughter. He took it as a mission success and removed the pillow, replacing it with his lips. Sakura just relaxed as she let the tenderness wash over her. She felt the urge to jump him, but at his family's dinner party?… that wouldn't look to graceful on his part. She just slowly drew her lips away from his and sat up then slid off the bed. Surprisingly, her hair was still in-tact.

"Why are all my photos out?" Sasuke asked looking around his bedroom floor seeing pictures ranging from bubble baths to his Sr. year in high school.

Sakura just smiled and told him, "You mother was kind enough to show me?"

"You asked?"

"She offered."

"Fair enough" Sasuke grunted as he gestured towards the door and escorted her out.

He was met with an unpleasant surprise with his brother in the hallway. Itachi had a mischievous smirk on his face as he asked, "Before a dinner party? Really? You couldn't keep it caged any longer than that?"

Sakura's face turned red and Sasuke balled his fists. He didn't enjoy teasing, but for his brother to imply what he specifically _didn't_ want to happen was just irritating. He had had enough of his brother's shenanigans, and he wasn't about to let Itachi ruin his public, formal announcement of his and Sakura's engagement.

"I can assure you Itachi, nothing happened" Sasuke said keeping his calm façade.

"Then what, dear brother, did happen in there?" Itachi asked with purposefully annoying curiosity.

"She was going through my pictures. I came up here to bring her down to the party."

"A likely story…" his brother grumbled.

"I don't have time for you" Sasuke said bluntly as he blew past his brother and headed down the stairs with a firm grip on Sakura's arm.

Sakura just huffed. Brotherly rivalry was tiresome. She just wanted to get this night over with. Not that she was ashamed or embarrassed, she was just so nervous and just wanted to have alone time with Sasuke to just talk. They had hardly done any of that in the past few days. Christmas was spent opening presents and getting proposed to, the rest of the night was spent being physicallintimate, then the car ride over to their house was used up by Sakura's phone call to her brother Sassori about the engagement. She was starting to think this engagement business was a drag, but she felt like after tonight things might get a little less busy.

"Good evening" Sasuke was greeted by one of the many business men wearing a suit.

Sasuke soon struck up a conversation with the man and they were talking about corporation strategies and marketing goals. Sakura found herself wanting to yawn, but she thought that would be rude and it would embarrass Sasuke. It probably would. She knew he would introduce her to everyone after the announcement. Sasuke was looking around the room for someone specifically. He scanned the room for blond, spikey hair. He soon spotted the person he was looking for. He had Sakura follow him. Sasuke knew he had to wait another half hour until he could make the announcement. Everyone had to be there for it, but he didn't want Sakura to have to follow him around and listen-in on boring conversations. He was going to leave her with some people that she knew and would be able to talk to until he needed her for the announcement. When they walked up to the three people Sakura almost found herself sighing with relief.

"Finally…" she huffed, "Some familiar faces!"

Naruto spun around shouting, "Sakura-chan!" and hugged her.

Sakura laughed as she looked over Naruto's shoulder and saw Hinata's warm smile and Neji's nod.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked suddenly confused.

"I _am_ Sasuke's fian-" Sakura quickly cut off what she was saying and corrected herself, "girlfriend."

Neji raised a brow then smirked at Sasuke. Naruto was clueless and just figured it made sense for her to be here. Hinata had apparently missed the _almost_ slip of the tongue. When Sakura looked over her shoulder back at Sasuke his eyes were narrowed. She'd almost let it slip, but she just sheepishly smiled. Sasuke's eyes softened a little from the hard glare he was giving her, but he still kept his indifferent expression as he turned and walked the other direction.

"Why are you interested in a jerk like _him_?" Naruto asked glaring at the back of Sasuke's head.

Sakura was used to Sasuke's aloof behavior and strange random romantic moments. She also was used to his lack of speech and was becoming more and more comfortable with the silence the two of the occasionally shared. It's not that he didn't care to say anything to her, he just didn't have anything to say. He was perfectly happy remaining silent. He also handed situations differently. He didn't always yell or publicly chastise her, he'd just give her a down-sizing, icy glare. Naruto wasn't a fan of treating women like trainable pets, but Sakura didn't look at it that way. She just looked at it as a personality difference. She wasn't 'trained' just adapted.

"A jerk? What?" Sakura asked confused.

Naruto saw that she really _was_ confused and realized his behavior didn't bug her at all, "Never mind" he said as he waved his hand to change the subject.

The four chatted for a while. Most of it consisted of Sakura and Naruto with an occasional contribution from Hinata and dead silence fro Neji.

* * *

Eventually Sasuke came back over to the group and ran his hand from Sakura's elbow to her own hand to get her attention, then intertwined their fingers as he pulled her away from the other three. He led her towards an elevated area that could be called a stage if not for its bland and plain appearance. They both went up there and Sasuke soon spoke into the microphone grabbing everyone's attention.

"Fellow co-workers, friends, business partners, we are gathered here tonight to celebrate the up-coming year. This is a time of celebration that calls for several gatherings and social get-togethers, much like this one. The holidays bring everyone a great deal of happiness, but I've been granted an extra joy recently. I came here tonight to share it with you all. I'm officially announcing my engagement to Haruno Sakura, my fiancée, so please, a toast, to an approaching year of great fortune to you all as well as the success of my engagement."

Everyone raised their glasses and cheered then took a sip from all their glasses. Sakura took a sip from her glass of campaign as well. She had no idea how good of a public speaker Sasuke was. He had hardly said anything before, but now he was giving an elaborate speech that no one could have said any better. As soon as the happy couple walked down the steps off the stage they were greeted with congratulations from several people. Sakura felt a little overwhelmed at first, but as the people started to leave after giving their proper thanks for the party and congratulations to the couple, she realized that it was a little less intimidating. The Hyuugas were the last to leave, due to the fact that Hiashi had some business to talk over with Fugaku. After everyone was gone Sakura felt herself too wiped out to drive all the way back home with Sasuke. He'd never admit it, but Sasuke was beat too. He asked his parents to stay the night in his old room with Sakura, and of course, they agreed. Sakura trudged up the stairs slowly with Sasuke behind her. Sasuke just had a smirk stuck on his face. He'd never seen Sakura this tired, but he thought it made her look even cuter. When she got up the steps and into his room she threw herself on his bed face down and groaned.

"It wasn't that bad" he said in a stale tone, "I did all the talking, and you stood there looking beautiful, just like we'd planned."

"That's not it" she said rolling onto her back staring at his high ceiling.

Sakura rubbed an irritated hand over his face asking, "Then what?"

"I don't have any pajamas to wear…"

Sasuke didn't even bother answering her. He just gave her a blank stare mixed with a slight glare that seemed to be almost saying 'are you kidding me?' Then he went over to his dresser and pulled out one of his t-shirts for her to wear. He tossed it over to her as he undressed from his dress cloths as well throwing on nothing but boxers and pajama pants. Sakura then realized something.

"uhh…" she said looking down blushing.

"Yes?" he asked tilting his head slightly to the side.

"I… I don't have any clean underwear…" she stuttered.

Sasuke smirked and tossed her a pair of his boxers. They were engaged but Sakura still found it awkward to ask those kinds of questions.

"Seriously?" she asked holding them up.

"Aa" he answered as he slid under the covers.

Sakura huffed and supposed it was better than nothing. She quickly slid out of her dress and panties and changed into Sasuke's t-shirt and boxers. She found they were much more comfortable. She then made her way over to the bathroom to clean her face off of all the make-up she'd put on it. Then she took all of her hair pins and the chop sticks out. She couldn't sleep very well with them in. After she'd finally brushed her teeth and combed her hair she came back into the room to find Sasuke already asleep. She just sighed and decided that it was time she too went to bed. It'd been a long night for them both and Sasuke was already out cold.

* * *

Sakura woke up again the next morning to find Sasuke gone, but a fresh pair of cloths on her night stand. She hadn't taken a shower the night before, so that was her first priority. When she had finished, she quickly got dressed the shuffled quickly down the stairs. She found the whole family sitting at the table with an empty seat between Mikoto and Sasuke. Sakura quietly tip-toed up to the seat and gently sat down, but everyone was aware of her presence. After Fugaku had put down his iPad that he was using to read the newest reports on the stock market and national news, he looked over at Sakura with a stern expression, but she could tell he was trying to smile. Mikoto set down some handy-work she was doing and gave Sakura the warm smile Fugaku had attempted. Sasuke didn't bother to look at her though. He felt like he didn't really have to. That and he was quite busy himself. After he got out of college he had to be ready to become a full time employee. Not surprisingly, he already felt like one.

"Good morning" Mikoto chirped as she grabbed Sakura's hand and asked, "Is there anything you want?"

Sakura just slightly blushed at how this woman, the wife of the wealthiest man in Japan, was being so humble.

"Just something for breakfast" she said softly with a smile, hoping that she wasn't imposing herself.

Mikoto nodded at a servant to come over then turned back to Sakura, "Anything specific? Anything at all?"

"ummmm… a bowl of fresh fruit and some yogurt?" Sakura said, but had it come out more like a question.

"Certainly" she said as she relayed the order to the waiter.

The man walked back into the kitchen area and Sakura then took the time to notice the absolutely glorious view out the giant kitchen windows. One side overlooked the front courtyard, and then the other had a splendid view of the private gardens. Just a few moments later the waiter walked back out with a perfect sized bowl of a fruit and a high grade brand of yogurt.

"I didn't know what you wanted ma 'dam so I brought you strawberry, since it matched your lovely hair" the waiter said with a smile as he set the food and a spoon in front of her.

"You trained them for flattery too?" Sasuke asked flatly with a slight hint of amusement in his voice as he chewed on the back of his pen looking at a stock report.

Mikoto crossed her arms defensively saying, "It doesn't hurt you know."

Sasuke simply shook his head then looked at his father who was staring straight at him. Sasuke raised a brow not knowing what he'd done to get his father's stern glances.

"Something wrong?" Sasuke asked putting down his iPad as well.

Fugaku huffed then said, "We announced your engagement, but we still need to find a wedding day, and preferably soon."

"You're kidding right?" Sasuke asked, "Sakura and I are still in college, in fact, she has classes later today, planning a wedding right now is nearly impossible."

"Nearly, not completely."

"That's not the point" Sasuke said starting to grit his teeth, "There's no need to rush, just let things slow down a little bit and we'll let you know when we set a date."

Fugaku scowled, but complied with a nod. Sasuke wasn't a fan of fighting with his father, and definitely not in front of Sakura. Sasuke looked at his watch and saw that Sakura had classes in a few hours if they didn't leave now then she'd be late.

"We've got to go, sorry. Sakura had classes today" Sasuke said as he stood up and gestured for Sakura to do the same.

He led her out of the kitchen and up to his room where she gathered all her belongings, including the dress she'd chosen, and then they went out to his car and drove towards the college campus.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_I'm soooooooo sorry for taking so long! I hope the length of this chapter makes of for the tardiness! I hope to update again soon if possible, but it's not very likely! TTFN!

* * *

PLEASE R&R! ^(^0^)^ *WOOT FACE!*


	12. Never Saw It Coming

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey guys! I can't believe that I'm getting better about updating semi-regularly. It used to be sporadic, but lately I've been needing an escape from my life. I know I've explained in past chapters but it's not quite worth it anymore. It also takes up more words than it's worth for the opening note, so I hope you guys enjoy! ^_^

* * *

"Are you sure it was ok to just walk out like that?..." Sakura asked as she stared at the road on the drive back.

"They're my family, but that's not my house. Since I was a guest I technically am allowed to leave whenever I want. We're both adults Sakura."

"I know that… but they really do mean the best Sasuke…" Sakura muttered as she played with the palms of her hands.

Sasuke just pinched the skin between his nose. He really didn't need this kind of stress. He was already worried about the night club which he'd left in Neji's capable hands while he was gone. Neji was trustworthy, but Sasuke always believed that if you wanted to get something done right, you had to do it yourself. He dropped Sakura off in front of the dormitory, but he decided to drive to work to go through some things in his office. When he pulled up there weren't any cars there. It wasn't hardly past noon anyway, so he didn't expect there to be anyone there. When he walked into the building he was greeted by some of the workers that cleaned up the place and he climbed the stairs. Down the hall, the second door on the left, was his office. He stepped inside to find everything as he'd left it. The chair was still up against the desk, the computer was shut off, the files were still stacked neatly on his desk. He sighed in relief, but the feeling was short lived. The second he sat down he noticed that some of the files in a he kept for paying bills in a desk drawer were gone. He started panicking slightly as he frantically opened and closed drawers hoping that he'd misplaced them, but soon the Hyuuga himself came into the office and set the very file he was looking for down on his desk.

"Why did you have those?" Sasuke asked as he turned around noticing just what the file was.

Neji shrugged as he stood on the other side of Sasuke's desk answering, "Truthfully, I felt obligated to pay the utility bills since you left me in charge. I needed the file so I had to go get it to access the online bill-payer."

"Fair enough" Sasuke grunted deeming Neji's excuse more than valid.

Neji was his close business partner after all. Sasuke was more than happy to have the Hyuugas help and assistance. It allowed him more freedoms to travel and relax. He was by no means taking advantage of the Hyuuga, but the Uchihas and Hyuugas have always had a business related past. The Hyuuga was eventually going to as a favor of Sasuke in return, so it's not like anyone was getting cheated here.

"That was a pretty snazzy engagement announcement you made" Neji commented as he sat on the edge of Sasuke's desk striking up a conversation with the stoic man.

Sasuke let an amused smirk grace his lips as he said, "You knew from the start."

"That doesn't take away from the announcement"

"It takes away from the surprise"

"Fair enough"

"That's my line"

Neji smirked before answering, "Too bad I just stole your thunder."

Sasuke just let the amusing smirk show on his face once more as he and Neji idly chatted in his office. They asked each other about their girlfriends, but men never stayed on that topic for too long. They quickly switched to marketing strategies and then Neji asked Sasuke for a small amount of money as compensation for the work he did as manager of the whole place while Sasuke was gone. Seeing that the Hyuuga was more than deserving of it, Sasuke was happy to oblige. The two eventually ceased the idle chatter as they set back to work on filing papers and finishing up the utility bills. Sasuke also noticed how he needed to do pay rolls. He scanned down the list of employees, wages, hours, and total amount due. He noticed how Sakura's hours had significantly dropped, but it's not like he was complaining. He made a mental note to himself to ask her about it. He had at first kept her in that job so that he could look at her with ease, but he soon found himself uneasy as he realized that more than a hundred lusty men were _also_ staring at her.

Eventually Sasuke decided to send a text to Sakura telling her to come back to his house instead of her dorm. He found himself liking the confines of four solid walls and infinite privacy (the maids didn't bug him). Only a few hours later when he had already returned home and it was bordering on 8:30PM he received a text, but it wasn't from Sakura.

Sasuke flipped up the lid of his phone to find a message from Naruto, _"Sakura. Hospital. Now."_

Sasuke didn't even think twice before flying down the stairs and grabbing the keys to the BMW parked in the driveway. He nearly knocked three or more maids over on his way out. As soon as the ignition in the car was on Sasuke drove like a mad man down the long driveway to get to the street. He laid-rubber as he turned the corner into the traffic. He cursed and slammed on the wheel at every stoplight he got to, which was just about every single intersection. By the time he got to the hospital it was almost 10PM and he was worried that visiting hours were over. The nurse had directed him to the ICU lobby where almost everyone was gathered, including, strangely, his family.

"We came as soon as we heard" Mikoto cooed while clasping her son's hands in a comforting manner.

Sasuke let a small amount of worry show on his face as he semi-sarcastically asked, "She's not dead, is she?"

Naruto stood up and made his way over to the raven haired man who now just stepped onto the scene trying to explain things as best he could, "No. She's just unconscious."

"What happened?" Sasuke asked as he narrowed his eyes.

Naruto led Sasuke away from everyone else to a corner of the lobby where the two stood leaning against the wall as Naruto elaborated, "There was an accident on campus. Sakura was headed somewhere right after class got out, and some drunk bastard came swerving around the corner and hit her. He slowed down a little before the impact, so she's not dead. She would've been if he hadn't, but it's still _really_ bad. I was on the other side of the sidewalk waving to her when it happened. She's a mess Sasuke. She looks like something out of Dante's Inferno… not that I took the time to actually read that thing… but god… I don't know what else to say…"

Sasuke slowly slid down the wall as he sat on the ground, the shock not showing on his face, but causing him to internally vibrate. He was shaken to the core. If he had known that something like that was going to happen he would've come and picked her up. But the world never gave a second chance, and there was no way for him to know. The only person to blame was the drunk, who Naruto had informed him, was expelled from the school indefinitely. The man was also getting sued by the school to help pay for Sakura's medical bills. She was on school grounds when it happened and was absolutely not her fault, so she was entitled to compensation.

Sasuke was eventually able to snap out of the dazed state he'd been in and stood up to go sit in the chairs with everyone else like a normal person. It wasn't until midnight that a doctor came out covered in blood stained scrubs to inform them. Everyone that was there (Sasuke, Naruto, Fugaku, Mikoto, Itachi, Neji, Sassori, Gaara, Ten-Ten, Temari, and Ino) stood up anxious to hear what the doctor had to say.

"She's stable" he said causing everyone to let out the breath they'd been holding in, "But she's not out of the woods yet."

Everyone's faces had a serious look about them as the doctor asked, "Who here is the family?"

Gaara and Sassori stepped towards the doctor then looked behind them confused at the Uchiha.

"You're her fiancée aren't you?" Sassori asked.

Sasuke snapped out of his daze then countered, "I thought he was just asking for blood relatives."

The doctor led the three men into an office where he threw his bloodied scrubs away to reveal jeans and a t-shirt. He sat down behind his desk as he pulled out a patient file and scribbled notes on it then addressed the three men sitting in front of him.

"She's in extremely bad shape" the doctor said with a grim face, "She's suffering from extreme internal bleeding. Even now as we speak she's bleeding internally. We managed to lessen it to a certain degree, but there's also the problem of her punctured lung due to her multiple broken ribs. She only has a slight cut on her face, surprisingly all the damage was done to her torso."

"Is it fixable?" Sasuke immediately cut in trying to get to the point.

Gaara just shot him a glare mixed with a raised eyebrow as the doctor replied, "Yes, but It's going to take a long time. She'll be in here for at _least_ 2 months. And the medical bills are going to be astronomical."

"Money's not an object to me. I'll pay for all of it" Sasuke stated confidently waiting for another excuse to leave the doctor's mouth.

"Is there anything else wrong with her?" Gaara asked.

The doctor had a very sad almost sympathetic expression on his face as he said, "She also hit her head on the cement causing her to get a concussion… so we believe that when she wakes up… she might have amnesia…"

"Is _that_ fixable?" Sassori asked somewhat ignorantly.

The doctor gave him a shrug as he said, "Time's the only cure for that problem."

Sasuke immediately felt his heart sink. It's one thing that his wife was suffering physically, but not he'd have to suffer emotionally with her if she were to forget him. She was his fiancée, his life, his purpose, his passion, though he'd never admit it. He was madly, deeply, truly in love with her. At that moment, he promised himself that he'd do whatever it took to make sure that Sakura would remember him if she actually were to forget him.

"Can we see her?" Gaara asked extremely worried about his younger sister.

The doctor shook his head as he said, "She's unconscious, but you guys can see her first thing tomorrow morning at 8am."

Gaara and Sassori nodded as they left the office, Sasuke however, lingered a bit longer.

"If she _were_ to have amnesia… what would cause her to remember and bring her memories back?" Sasuke asked with his hands clenched into fists in his pockets.

"Something that would bring extreme emotions to the surface, something even her subconscious would recognize instantly" the doctor replied with a somewhat hopeful tone of voice.

Sasuke nodded and then left as well. He had no idea what would constitute as 'extreme emotions' the only thing he could think of like that is if he had sex with her. That was the only 'extreme' thing he could think of. However, that was a more physical thing. He had to present her with something her subconscious would recognize. I piece in the chain that would link it all back together. He needed to find something beyond meaningful. This was going to be a challenge.

* * *

Sasuke awoke the next day in a haze. He had hardly gotten any sleep that whole night. When he went to school for classes that morning, Sakura was the buzz. Everyone was talking about the accident. Definitely wasn't helping Sasuke at all. She was the only thing he could think about. Eventually he gave up trying to concentrate on his school work; he just wanted to know if she was ok. He would have gone to visit her that morning, but he had classes, and he knew that she wasn't walking out of there anytime soon. Eventually all his classes were over and it was 2PM. He decided to go to sore and pick something up for her (like Wal-Mart of Target kind of store). He scanned up and down the aisles, but was unable to find something that would be considered 'emotional' to her. There was nothing that would bring back memories. However, he did get her some pink roses, the same shade as her hair. He also got her a simple get well soon card. He only signed his name though. He wasn't one for 'mushy' notes and explanations. She might not even remember him anyway, so why waste the ink, time, and effort?

He set the flowers (that were in a vase) in the passenger seat along with the card as he walked around to the driver's seat. Sasuke started the ignition and drove off towards the hospital truly hoping and secretly dreading that she might be awake. He wanted to see her smile, give him some indication that everything was going to be alright, but at the same time, he was afraid that she wouldn't even know who he was, and that would make him suffer even more.

All his fears and hopes collided into one anxiety stricken Uchiha as he pulled into a parking space and walked towards the hospital. He was led by a nurse through the ICU unit to where Sakura was. He was absolutely flabbergasted at what he saw. She was hooked up to almost every device imaginable. She was unconscious, but she was definitely not 'at peace' while she was unconscious. Sasuke set the vase of flowers and card down on the end table near a sofa in the hospital room. There were several other gifts who he knew were left by the others. There was no one in the room, but Sasuke still wouldn't allow himself to shed one tear. He really, really wanted to , but he just couldn't allow himself. Uchihas didn't cry, ever, period. Sasuke just stood at the foot of her hospital bed watching her oxygen mask fog up with every breath she exhaled into it. He'd never seen her in such a state before. He could say for maybe the first time ever, he was scared. He was deeply afraid of losing her. Even though the doctor said that she was stabilized, he _clearly_ told them that the fight wasn't over. Sasuke knew that he could pay for her medical bills, he could do everything in his power to provide for her, but he felt weak because he couldn't _help_ her. He couldn't give her the will to live. She had to find it on her own.

Sasuke ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He really didn't know what to do with himself in that moment. He'd truly wanted to just kill over. It was the first time he'd ever felt helpless, weak, insecure, uncertain, and unconfident. As much as he wanted to stay by Sakura's side, he realized that he had to go to work. He had to earn the money that he was using to pay her medical bills at some point. Before he left, he took on of the dozen pink roses out of the vase and opened her palm and set the stem in it, then gently closed her hand into a little fist. He was shocked at how his brutish hands could easily swallow her dainty ones. After he'd said his final goodbye to her, he left with the promise to return the next day. Even though he promised to come back, it didn't make him feel any better about leaving her there.

"So how is she?" Neji asked when Sasuke walked into his office.

Sasuke just wiped a hand over his face as he blankly said, "She's not good."

"Oh" was the Hyuuga's only response.

Sasuke just ignored his presence as he buried himself in paperwork, but to no avail, Sasuke's mind _still_ wandered back to Sakura's hospital room, and to the flower she was still holding. The flower _he'd_ put there as an indicator of his visit. Sasuke walked into the hovering glass room to observe the workers and make sure that everything ran smoothly. He was immediately bombarded with questions from the others. He knew that him, Sassori, and Gaara, were the only ones who had visited Sakura. She was in such a bad state that only family was allowed to visit. Sasuke had known that the other flowers, candies, and stuffed animals were from her brothers who'd definitely been the very first ones to visit. Sasuke looked with a blank face over the crowds of the night club. Sasuke didn't feel like answering any of the annoying questions he was being asked regarding Sakura's health, so he just ignored them. After a while they stopped asking and he was more than happy that they did.

The night was long and Sasuke was tired. He kept looking at the blank spot on the stage next to Temari, the place where Sakura should've been dancing. Every little thing that day would remind him of her. Either the questions about her, where she _should've_ been, how she would've reacted to a song that was playing, the way she would've skipped into the room after her performance, everything. Sasuke had his mind so occupied by Sakura that he felt like he was on overload. He completely forgot about going home even. He just went to Sakura's dorm room and slept there. It was sad how much he was reminded of her when he walked in. Hell, it was _her_ room! When he spread himself across the bed in a lazy and careless manner, he took the time to realize that event he _bed_ still smelled like her from when she had last laid on it before Christmas. He decided that enough was enough and tried to let sleep take him as he closed his eye-lids. And what he would normally consider 'dreams' because of Sakura's presence in them, he considered a nightmare because she was haunting him _everywhere_. He needed to find a cure, and he knew that he needed it fast. Sasuke was gambling with his insanity.

* * *

Sorry if it's a little short… I kinda was well… really tired. I've been chopping, stacking, and sorting firewood. My family had three trees cut down that were HUGE… so we have about 10 years-worth of firewood. I even made like $60! The only downside is I'm downright TIRED and I'm having to drink a Monster Assault energy drink to finish this!

PLEASE READ AND RATE! ^(^0^)^ *WOOT FACE!*


	13. Barside Solutions

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey guys! I told you I would update later this week so I'm sorry it's taken a little longer, but here it is! I hope that you all liked my little dramatic twist from last chapter! ;)

PLEASE REMEMBER TO READ AND REVIEW! ^(^0^)^ *WOOT FACE!*

A

Sasuke ran a frustrated hand through his inky locks. The pinkette was sleeping in the hospital bed as he sat on the couch. The only other person in the room was Sassori and he was being uncharacteristically somber. Sasuke supposed that see his younger sister in the state that she was in had some sort of effect on his personality. He was normally crazy and happy-go-lucky, but now he was just dead silent with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. The flowers in Sakura's hospital room had grown. The doctor's had told Sasuke several times that she'd been awake, but it was only for five minutes at a time before she'd have to take pain killers and fall back asleep again. She always woke up crying or screaming in agony. The abrasions on her body weren't like skinning your knee, because the skin was gone. The internal bleeding had been stopped, but she was still recovering from her broken ribs, the abrasions as well. Even with all these injuries, the doctors were really only concerned about one thing, her concussion. They'd been giving her incapacitating pain killers, and they knew that even though it was the only kind of pain killer that would work for the intensity of her injuries, it wasn't safe. Because of her concussion, there was a possibility that she would eventually fall into a coma. Sasuke asked if there was any preventative method, but the doctor simply told him the only way was if she endured the pain, which seemed to be pretty agonizing. Eventually after another two weeks the abrasions started to heal. It got to the point where only if you touch them they hurt, so Sakura was quickly put off the knock-out pain killers and put on simpler ones closer to Advil and Tylenol.

When Sasuke heard of her improvement he quickly drove to the hospital with a bouquet of pink roses. He briskly walked up to the receptionist's desk and asked for Sakura's new room number now that she was no longer in ICU. When he walked up to the door it opened in front of him. Sassori walked out with a disheartening expression on his face. He put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder without saying anything then simply walked out of the hospital. Sasuke stood there for a moment thoroughly confused at Sassori's actions. Whatever he'd seen, heard, or experienced in there, it had rendered him speechless, a rare occurrence indeed.

Sasuke walked into the room to see the Pinkette sitting up in her bed. Surprisingly he saw no scars on her face. He assumed that the doctors had done treatments as the skin was healing to keep it from scaring. The marvels of modern medicine never ceased to amaze Sasuke. Anyway, he walked in and set the vase of pink roses on her bed-side table then sat in a chair next to her hospital bed.

"Hey" he said casually trying to see if anything was wrong with her.

Sakura continued to look at him with a puzzling expression like she was trying to figure something out, "Who are you?" she asked.

Sasuke's eyes widened and his face went pale. Had she forgotten him that easily?

"Look at your left hand" he told her monotonously.

Sakura did and she saw the gorgeous engagement ring clinging to her finger. Her eyes widened a little and she looked back at the man asking, "You're my _husband_?"

"Fiancée" he corrected her.

Sakura's face was one of guilt. Even if she couldn't remember, she knew she was hurting people, unintentionally of course, but it was still painful to see their faces.

"Do you even know who _you_ are?" Sasuke asked her.

Sakura shook her head with deep sadness in her eyes as she said, "I just figure my name is Haruno Sakura, since that's the name on the clipboard at the end of my hospital bed."

Sasuke was devastated. He'd hoped that she wouldn't fall into a coma, but he didn't want to think of his fiancée completely forgetting him either. He didn't know which was worse. Right when he felt little cracks starting to shatter his brain he heard someone come into the room. It was the doctor he'd spoken to before on the night of the accident.

"Come with me" he said to Sasuke as he made his way back to the doorway to wait for the confused raven haired man.

They walked into his office and both had a seat as they allowed the awkward silence to set. It wasn't long before the doctor spoke "My apologies. I shouldn't have allowed you to see her until I spoke to you."

Sasuke just nodded in acceptance before he asked, "Is it fixable?"

The doctor was surprised at Sasuke getting right to the point.

The doctor had a small hopeful smile on his face as he said, "Yes, allow me to explain. She has a specialized form of Retrograde Amnesia. It's enough to make her forget almost everything which would be classified as Transient Amnesia, however, we've discovered that due to the drugs we used. It's only temporary. She will eventually gain _all_ her memory back, but you'll have to help her if you want her to regain it faster. I would suggest taking her places she used to go to. Her everyday settings, and then places where specific and important occurrences took place."

Sasuke let out an inner sigh of relief. It was really fixable. She would soon remember everything. Eventually after they'd been talking for a while the two men stood up and shook hands before Sasuke left the hospital. He didn't want to see Sakura at the moment. He still loved her to pieces, but he couldn't help her right now, so he didn't want to be reminded of how she forgot him.

He felt like a chill time at Naruto's house was in order.

A

Naruto heard the doorbell ring and opened it up to reveal a black haired Uchiha standing on his doorstep. Naruto raised a confused brow at the Uchiha who just let himself in. Naruto and him were really close friends, maybe even closer than him and Neji, so this was usual. Sasuke walked into the living room and quickly stopped in his tracks then looked over his shoulder at Naruto.

"Who's that?" Sasuke asked Naruto pointing at a girl sitting on the couch watching TV.

Naruto scratched the back of his head before grumbling, "That's Hanabi…" (She's OOC btw)

"Cradle robber" Sasuke said monotonously with a smirk.

"It's not like that!" Naruto shouted waving his hands in the air, "Hinata went out shopping with some of the girls and she asked me to baby-sit her little sister!"

"Hn" was the only noise that left Sasuke's closed lips as he walked towards the bar Naruto had in his basement.

Naruto took one quick look at Hanabi. She was watching TV and she probably would be entertained for quite a while longer, so he followed Sasuke downstairs into the basement bar. Sasuke took a seat and Naruto went around to the other side of the bar to make the drinks.

"What's bothering you?" Naruto asked as he shuffled for a mixer.

Sasuke rubbed his temples before he muttered, "She's forgotten everything."

"Who? Naruto asked as he came up from the lower cabinets and set the mixer on the counter, "Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke nodded as he pointed to a drink that was on a list incrementally on the bar. Naruto grinned from ear to ear. Sasuke always got the same thing, the tomato tonic. It wasn't tomato flavored but it was his favorite color, red, so he always felt compelled to get it.

"Well I don't know what to tell you…" Naruto mumbled with a somewhat sad expression as he thumbed through liquors trying to find the right ones for Sasuke's drinks, "No one said that love was easy."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He knew that he loved Sakura, as much as he would hardly ever admit it aloud, so he just ignored the rest of what Naruto had to say while the blond was fixing his drink.

A half hour had passed before the two men had even noticed. Soon, the two of them heard footsteps coming down the stairs to the basement. The blond was still rambling to Sasuke but the raven haired man snapped his eyes to the stairs. It was Neji and Hinata.

"I figured we'd find you down here" Neji stated with his arms crossed and a somewhat arrogant smirk on his face.

Hinata played with her fingers as she blushed saying, "Th-th-thank you, N-Na-Naruto-kun f-for taking c-care of Hanabi…"

Naruto smiled at her as he replied, "No problem Hinata-chan. She was pretty easy to manage."

Hinata smiled and bowed as she went up to get her little sister to take her home.

Neji took a seat at the bar next to Sasuke and asked Naruto for a regular martini. Naruto nodded but first poured Sasuke's drink into a martini glass and served it to him. Naruto rinsed out the mixer and was preparing Neji's drink as the two men sitting next to each other began to talk.

"You want to make her remember don't you?" Neji asked.

Sasuke just felt his eyes half close as he stared straight ahead. He wanted to make Sakura remember, but at what cost? Would she really go back to normal? Would some of the memories never come back?

"Hn" was all Sasuke could get out as he focused on all the questions swirling in his head.

Neji just narrowed his eyes in discontent as he stared at the raven haired man who continued to not look at him, "Sasuke you have to at least try" the Hyuuga stated logically.

"Then what do you suggest I do?" Sasuke said in almost an angry tone of voice.

"I spoke to the doctor" Neji said as he took a sip of the drink while Naruto wiped off any splotches of alcohol on the counter with a rag, "I know what type of amnesia she has. I know how to help."

"Then start helping" Sasuke said indifferently.

The Hyuuga scowled at the raven haired man's attitude but proceeded, "Take her first to the places where she's spent most of her time, familiar surroundings, and then to the places that have sentimental meaning, where significant events took place."

"Hn."

"You're welcome."

"Hn."

"Don't bother with him Neji" Naruto said with a grin leaning against the back counter with the liquor glasses behind him, "Sasuke's always acted like an ungrateful bastard. It's nothing new."

The Hyuuga shrugged as he took yet another sip of his drink. Naruto hadn't failed to notice that Sasuke was now on his 2nd glass. When he looked up at Naruto for a third, the gauntlet was thrown down.

"Sakura doesn't need you in the hospital either" Naruto said as he washed off Sasuke's glass and hung it back up with the other martini glasses, "So I'm cutting you off sorry, but I have sparkling juice and other drinks."

Sasuke shrugged then unceremoniously asked for plain tomato juice.

"You have a fetish with that vegetable I swear…" the Hyuuga mumbled under his breath as he finished his first drink and refused Naruto's offer for a second.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the Hyuuga, but the teasing didn't stop there, "I'm sure you'd love so see Sakura naked in a giant wooden container of tomatoes wouldn't you? Your life would be complete!" Naruto laughed aloud with one hand on the counter behind him and another resting on his stomach.

Sasuke really wished that he could punch the crap out of Naruto right then and there, but that wasn't particularly an option at the moment. He wasn't drunk enough to lose his self-control. He always kept his sadistic thoughts to himself and never acted on them.

Eventually all the boys were slowly growing tired and decided to head home. Sasuke was right; Naruto's house was the best stop to make on the way home after all. Sasuke was headed to the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and was met with cerulean orbs that were full of concern.

"I've already had one friend get in a freak accident. I don't want another one to end up that way too. Call a limo Sasuke, please. It's not like you can't afford one. You can always get a ride back here to pick your car up."

Sasuke wasn't one to agree to people's requests with something as trivial as a ride home, but he decided that Naruto was right. Better safe than sorry. He texted his limo driver who sent him a reply saying he'd only be five minutes. Sure enough only three minutes later the limo pulled up outside of Naruto's house. Sasuke bid Naruto good-bye and made his way out to the limo. The driver would've asked him if he'd been drinking, but it wasn't his place so he kept his mouth shut.

Sasuke was too busy staring out the window thinking of a certain pinkette who would be haunting his dreams once again tonight. The doctor had assured Sasuke that Sakura would be getting out tomorrow, but for some reason it didn't seem soon enough. Sasuke knew that he was going to have to start from square one in order to get her memory back. He wasn't exactly too happy about that. He wished that he could just kiss her and have everything come back, but life wasn't like a crap-shoot Disney movie, it sucked. Sasuke pinched the skin between his eyes. Where was he supposed to start from? What exactly was 'square one'? He decided that he owed Gaara a phone call. Her brother would know where to take her. As much as it pained Sasuke, it might be better for Gaara to take Sakura back to where they grew up and start from square one with her, so that she could get her memory back up to when she met him. Then he could take over from there.

Sasuke stepped into the depressingly empty mansion. He made a note to himself to keep the Christmas tree there. They were too last to find a place to dump the 30 foot behemoth of a tree, but he would need it to have Sakura remember her first Christmas with him.

The raven haired man broodingly walked into his room not bothering to shut the doors as he tossed his zip-up hoodie to the side and shuffled through his jean pockets for his cell phone. He scrolled through his contacts and found Gaara's number. To say Sasuke wasn't a fan was quite an understatement. Sasuke had never really like Gaara. Not only was Sakura's brother the biggest cock-block, but he also had no problem issuing threats as well.

Sasuke took a deep, much needed breath as he heard the dial tone of his phone trying to contact Gaara's. Right when Sasuke thought he would get off easy and leave a voicemail he hears the ginger pick up.

"_Hello?"_ came his voice on the other line.

"Hn."

"_I figured it was you"_ Gaara said almost uninterested which irked Sasuke a little.

The raven haired man ran a hand through his inky locks before saying, "I need a favor."

"_What might that be?"_

Gaara was tap dancing on Sasuke's last good nerve with his indifferent, snarky replies, but Sasuke decided to be the better person as he asked, "If it had to do with helping your sister would you be willing to cut the crap? I've never done anything to you so buck up and grow up."

Gaara almost growled into the phone, but bit his lip and swallowed his pride before he said, _"If it has to do with my sister, then I'm all ears."_

"Glad to hear it…" Sasuke said back before continuing, "I was thinking that maybe you could take her to where you guys grew up, try to help her regain her memories. Both the doctor and Neji have said that if we encourage her and put her in familiar surroundings, then her memory will come back, but I've only known her for a little over a year. I can pick it up for the past year, but I need you to give her the memories from the first 19 years of her life. What do you say?"

"I'll do it" Gaara said through the phone.

Sasuke was about to thank him but he almost spoke to soon as the red-head continued, "But you can't come anywhere near her until I give her over to you. You might mess things up."

As much as it pained Sasuke to be away from Sakura for so long, he knew that it was necessary in order for him to get her back, "Understood."

Gaara didn't even bother saying goodbye and simply hung up on the Uchiha. Sasuke knew that she would be taken care of until it was his turn to take the reins and help Sakura with the last, most important year of her life.

Sasuke unceremoniously tossed his phone onto the night stand and closed his door before stripping and taking a hot shower. Afterwards he went down to the kitchen wrapped in a towel to get a glass of water, and just as he expected, he was lectured by the old maid about walking around the house half naked with even servants in the house. After Sasuke had thrown on a pair of pajama pants and nothing more, he decided to just fall on his bed and go to sleep. He was consumed.

The biggest surprise for him was his lack of haunting dreams. Since he knew that Sakura would be in good hands with Gaara, it almost gave him a sense of security and hope. He knew that nothing would happen to her as long as she was with her older brother. He was sure that Sassori would probably tag along. It didn't bother him one bit. He let a smirk of relief grace his lips as he concentrated on the thought of Sakura getting her memories back. It wasn't even a possibility in his mind anymore; it was a goal, a check-list, a task. He knew they could get it done, and they would.

A

_**To Be Continued…**_

A

Hey! I'm sorry that it's maybe 1k shorter than it normally would be. I plan on having the next chapter get her all her memories back from when she was a teenager. I'll have to figure out what kind of past she's had in the meantime. I want it all to tie in somehow. Reading some of my other stories I was sadly disappointed in my randomness.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! ^(^0^)^ *WOOT FACE!*


	14. The Road to Recovery

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

oh my god! I'm soooo sorry that I haven't updated in FOREVER! I really am T^T I've just recently gotten a new bf so I've been spending oodles of time with him instead of doing other stuff including writing these. I've also been playing world of warcraft :3

I really hope to update more frequently over the summer, even though I have summer school .

PLEASE REMEMBER TO READ AND REVIEW! ^(^0^)^ *WOOT FACE!*

* * *

Sakura woke up in somewhat of a haze as she pushed off the covers of the hospital bed. The doctor had told her that she was getting cut loose today. She just had to go through one physical exam to deem her healthy enough to walk out of those doors. She had expected that the raven haired man she had seen before would come get her. She looked down at the ring on her finger. Sakura really didn't know why she kept wearing it. She knew that she was engaged to that man whom she didn't remember, but it didn't feel like it for some reason. She had to discover herself, and there was no option about that. She was half surprised when she found a flame haired boy standing in the doorway.

"Who are you again?" She asked confused as she scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

Gaara kept a blank face façade even though he died a little inside as he calmly said, "Gaara, your brother."

Sakura's face reflected that of enlightenment even though Gaara knew it was false. She still didn't remember a thing.

"I'm taking you somewhere" he said calmly as he pushed himself up off the doorframe.

"Where?" Sakura asked a little apprehensive about going anywhere with the seemingly mysterious boy.

Gaara rubbed the back of his neck as he grunted, "Home."

Sakura's eyes widened, where was her home? She surely didn't know. Scratching the side of her head with her index finger Sakura tried her hardest not to over think things. She really wanted her memory back, which meant she had to go with this strange man who claimed to be her brother. He really didn't have a reason to lie to her, did he? The doctors would never allow her to leave with an imposter relative anyway. After a few moments another slightly taller red haired male with a softer looking face walked into the room. There was no doubt that _they_ were brothers, but how did she fit in with her pink hair? Sakura wasn't sure but just tried her best to smile for them. Sassori already knew that Sakura hadn't a clue who he was so he decided to introduce himself, again.

"I'm your oldest brother" Sassori said not hiding the hurt in his voice nearly as good as Gaara, "Sassori."

Sakura just smiled and nodded. She forgot about her brothers and her fiancée, did anyone get left out?

"So he's coming too?" Sakura asked Gaara as she pointed at Sassori.

Both boys just nodded as a response. Sakura would be lying if she said she was comfortable with the situation. She didn't know who she was, who she was with, or where she was going. It was pretty frightening, but the boys kept their calm and somewhat welcoming demeanor which definitely helped her calm down a bit. Eventually after driving through the populated city they kept driving north for almost three hours until they came to a quiet, small town that you could almost call a village. Sakura thought the place was beautiful but the car was driving by a little too fast for her to be able to remember the scenery. The thing she did notice though was how the whole village was abandoned. It was a ghost town without a person in sight. Eventually the boys pulled up to a tiny house with only two bedrooms and no second floor. Sakura looked at the poorly kept house and shuddered. It gave her the creeps. Gaara got out of the driver's side and Sassori got out of the passenger's side.

"C'mon" Sassori urged her sweetly with a smile, "You're home."

Sakura gave a slight look of disgust as she asked, "I live _here_?"

Gaara pinched the bridge of his nose as he corrected the misconception by telling her, "You _lived_ here, a long time ago."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. She was now able to tell herself that she wasn't a hermit. However, she still was uncertain about the house though. It has vines of ivy growing through the windows and _into_ the house. The place reeked of pine, but it could've been worse.

"This town has grown so small that it's nearly off the map now, but there are still a few older people who choose to stay here. This house hasn't been in habited since we left here when we were teenagers" Sassori said as they walked up the gravel path to the house's front door.

Gaara opened it and ushered Sakura and Sassori in before him. Sakura gasped and held her head. She heard children giggling, the shuffling of tiny feet all over the floor, then two young boys wrestling. They were fighting over a CD and rolling on top of each other for it.

"You… you fought a lot when you were younger didn't you?" Sakura asked them as she turned around with tears streaming down her face.

She didn't have all her memories back, but she had quite a few of them that were at least in the living room of the house, where she got her first kiss from a boy named Kyouchi. She also remembers painting her toes with her first best friend Sakurai, the only girl who had a similar name to hers. They sat together in school when the seats were alphabetized because of how close their names were. Even though Sakura was still in a trance Gaara and Sassori slowly led her holding her hands so she could look into her bedroom. Even though the floor had dirt all over it and vines were all over the walls growing in through the windows, she could still look back in time to when the walls of the room weren't covered in grime and dirt, but were a solid pink. She saw herself lying on her bed talking on the phone, then another night she saw herself punching her pillow as feelings of hatred seeped into her mind. It was the night that their father abandoned them. He left because he said that there were more opportunities for him elsewhere with another woman. She felt herself clenching her fists as she saw her 12 year old self move from the pillow to the bedframe, snapping the wood clean in half. 14 and 16 year old Gaara and Sassori were standing in the doorway trying to think of a way to help their younger sibling, but just stood there in shock as she continued to destroy the wall behind her bedframe leaving cracks in it.

Sakura then turned out of the room and ran back outside and started sobbing on the walk-way. Gaara and Sassori knelt on the ground beside her.

"That bastard!" she shrieked with her face still down close to the ground, "He _left_ us! He fucking _left _us!"

Gaara and Sassori nodded at each other. She was slowly starting to get her memory back, but suddenly discovering how terrible your father was and how you'd never talk to him again, well, it was a lot to take in.

"Get me away from here…" she sobbed quietly, "I don't want to be here anymore…"

Sassori gave Gaara a somber look as he asked, "Should we take her to the other house next?"

Gaara gave him a quiet nod as he helped a crying and lethargic Sakura up off the gravel walk way and back into the car. They drove back into the city and then once they passed the other way through the city they came to a suburbia setting where there were shopping plazas and little convenient stores everywhere. Sakura found the whole setting appealing, especially since there were people walking around. Gaara eventually pulled up in the street to a house that was quaint and a little bigger than their old home out in the country.

Sakura stepped out of the car and the first thing she remembered was toilet-paper and glow sticks everywhere and then scowled at her brothers as she asked, "Did you guys throw a wild party here one time?..."

Gaara looked at Sassori who was sheepishly smiling and scratching the back of his head, which was all the answer Sakura really needed. Sassori had, in fact, thrown a grad party that got beyond out of control while their mother was on a business trip. She was constantly out of town because she had to take a traveling job in order to get enough money to support herself and her three children. They were able to take care of themselves, but Gaara was normally the stand in parents with his protective nature and his attitude of stepping in constantly, things turned out just fine. Gaara was more her parent then her real parents had been, although she couldn't bring herself to hate her mother as memories of her smile flooded Sakura's mind. Then Gaara took her around the house, but due to the fact that they'd only lived there for two years or so, there weren't many memories that particularly stood out. Then Gaara took her to one place he knew she wouldn't want to visit, the place where their mother died. Gaara drove along the high way then pulled over into the emergency lane where there was a white wooden cross on the side of the road about 20 yards off. Sakura carefully scooted herself out of the car and saw the wooden cross and everything came flooding back to her: the images of the damage to the guard rail, the car on fire, police and fire trucks everywhere, and an ambulance that was far too late. Everywhere she looked was in flames. She dropped to the ground sobbing being caught half way down by her brothers on each side of her.

"She… she left us too…" Sakura quietly sober to herself.

Gaara immediately frowned and jerked her up to her feet and made her glisteningly somber eyes gaze into his cold hard ones as he hissed, "She never _left_ us… not by choice. Don't _ever_ think that way again. _Dad_ left, _mom_ was taken from us."

Sakura could feel the malice in her older brother's voice and simply nodded and complied with what he had to say. Then they all piled back in the car and headed towards Sassori's place inside the city. He had a two bedroom apartment that had been shared by all 3 of them, but since Sakura had moved out to go to college Gaara had went from sharing a room with Sassori to having his own room.

When they stepped inside the somewhat pig-sty apartment Sakura could remember the images of sitting on the sofa with her brothers eating pints of Ben&Jerry's ice cream. She remembered how they tried to cheer her up after their mother's death, but she couldn't remember very much because she had moved out just about a year and a half later.

"It's seriously 9pm already?" Sassori asked looking at the clock above the fireplace mantle.

None of them had eaten anything since the early morning, so they decided to head out to the local ramen stand for dinner to pig out on. Sakura hadn't been much of a fan of ramen, but she _loved_ the local ramen stand just around the corner. When they had walked into the small restaurant Sassori immediately sniffed trouble. He looked to his right and saw Naruto and Sasuke at a booth. Naruto had his back to Sassori but Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the trio and made a move to get up and head towards them, but Sassori made frantic gestures that indicated he should stay there. Sasuke told Naruto that Sakura was here, but they couldn't see her yet, Naruto was disappointed, but for once the blond did what he was asked since it was important enough and had to do with Sakura's wellbeing. A few minutes later Sasuke felt his phone buzz with a text message from Sassori.

_We finished with her today,_

_But it'd be better if you_

_Came and picked her up_

_From my place in the _

_Morning. – Sassori_

Sasuke scowled in disappointment at seeing in fiancée for the first time in weeks since she'd broken his heart from not even remembering who he was, and he didn't even get to talk to her. As much as he would never admit it, he was such a sap that seeing her was almost half as good as talking to her. Sasuke was more than relieved that she was at least ok and doing better, but he wanted to ask Sassori some questions.

_How much does she remember?_

Sassori felt his phone buzz as Sakura bopped him over the head chastising him saying, "Sassori haven't I told before? There's no texting while we're eating dinner together!"

Sassori sheepishly smiled as he said "It's important!" and quickly texted the raven haired man back.

_She remembers everything_

_up until she met you._

Sasuke took his phone out and scowled as he texted back.

_Her mother's death?_

Sassori took it out and rolled his eyes. This was the most the Uchiha had talked to him in an entire 6 months.

_Yes, but we didn't take he_

_to the grave-site. That was_

_mostly where __you__ were_

_there for her. Dude she's_

_gunna kill me, so I have to go_

_just come get her in the_

_morning. Nuff said._

Sassori turned his phone on silent after he sent that text and looked up to find Gaara staring at him. Gaara simply jerked his head over his shoulder at the Uchiha to ask if that's what Sassori's insistent texting was about. Sassori just nodded in confirmation.

Gaara squinted his eyes and asked, "When?" knowing that the Uchiha wanted his turn.

"In the morning" was Sassori's bland reply before he slurped up the rest of his ramen.

"What about the morning?" Sakura asked thoroughly confused by the situation.

Sassori grinned from ear to ear putting his sister in a headlock ruffling her hair as he said, "We're making you breakfast in the morning! My special waffles!"

Sakura just giggled then said, "Yes!" enthusiastically.

Gaara just kept staring over his shoulder at the Uchiha. It must be killing him inside knowing that Sakura doesn't even notice him.

* * *

SO SORRY! That took far too long guys! That's totally my fault T^T

I hope to update soon! This is one of my favorite stories to work on! It's drawing to a close, as sad as that is to say T^T so enjoy it while it lasts!


	15. Harder Than You Know

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey guys! I'm sorry if you have been waiting a long time for my update! I've just been so busy between summer assignments, cleaning out my room (I'm turning into a minimalist), summer school, my boyfriend, friends, CIY, and school's been in session for two weeks :(

I hope you all enjoy this! Life sucks at the moment because my school's making me a sophomore still because of a half credit of math, all my other classes will be a junior classes… further more after this year I'll be a Senior… this makes no sense and the school system sucks. Welcome to life, right?

* * *

Sakura woke up in a slight haze but slowly sat up and yawned stretching upwards. She was really tired from the night before. She and her brother's had stayed up watching black and white sappy romance movies eating tubs of ice cream like she'd remembered they used to do. She walked into the kitchen and soon discovered that Sassori was making his homemade waffles and Gaara was hard at work cooking eggs and bacon. They were both wearing the red aprons she suddenly remembered giving them a few years ago for Christmas. Her mom had helped her pick them out. Sakura still felt some of her energy hadn't returned, mostly because she had an emotionally earth shattering day yesterday. She walked up right behind them where they were hard at work at the stovetop and the counter next to it. Both brothers looked over their shoulders at their yawning little sister with a slight grin on each of their faces. Sakura walked up to them while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She gave them both a confused and skeptical look as she smelled the food wafting in the air.

"Waffles" Sassori answered her unspoken question.

"And eggs with bacon" Gaara chimed in with no emotion in his voice.

Sakura shrugged and took a seat at the little table inside the kitchen by the window. Gaara quickly set down the eggs in front of her followed by a generous plate of waffles. Sakura dug into the food with no remorse after realizing just how hungry she was. Gaara and Sassori had picked at the food while they were cooking it so they weren't quite as hungry, but talked amongst themselves on the other end of the kitchen out of earshot of their sister, or so they thought.

"Where is he?..." Sassori growled with impatience.

Gaara rolled his eyes at his impatient brother before answering, "Probably on his way, are you in a hurry for her to leave or something?"

Sassori quickly bit his tongue for his unreasonable question then grumbled, "Well… no… I don't want her to go, but it's not my place, he holds the key to completely fixing what's been broken from here."

Gaara just shrugged at his brother's heartfelt explanation of what was happening, which didn't particularly put him at ease.

After a few uncomfortable minutes of silence Sassori turned to Gaara with an inquisitive eyebrow raised as he said, "You stoicism is scaring me… how is it you can be so calm about this? You do realize that she had forgotten about us…"

Gaara turned to scowl at his brother as he hissed, "It wasn't her _choice_ and you _know_ that. I can't believe you would say something so out of context like she doesn't care about us."

Sassori once again bit his tongue for his unmonitored words. He really did need to break that habit, but before Sassori had time to apologize, the doorbell rang and Gaara was already out of the kitchen and walking up the front door. When it opened Sassori was able to see the incredibly placid-faced, surprisingly casually dressed Uchiha. He stepped in with an atmosphere of aristocracy about him. Sakura's eyes opened quickly as she stood up from her seat and bowed to him. Sasuke raised a brow in surprise. She hardly ever showed him respect. She always acted like she was on the same level as him.

"I… I'm sorry…. I don't remember you but I feel like I should…" She stuttered as tears started to flood to her eyes.

'Why am I forgetting him? Who is he? Why does it make me cry when I see him?' she repeatedly thought to herself as she tried to subdue her urge to cry.

"You have to go with him," Gaara said walking over to his sister having to fight back his own tears though his face refused to show it.

Sakura nodded and walked up to the man who held out a hand to her, and once again she saw the ring on his finger, and immediately felt the guilt rising up to her throat making her choke on her words and actions. She shakily took his hand as his fingers swallowed hers and led her out the door.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked rather frightened.

"Somewhere" came his purposely-vague reply.

Sakura scowled as she jerked her hands out of his and shouted, "Why are you keeping me in the dark! Why can't you just spell it out for me! This isn't fair! It's painful to even _**look**_at you! Just tell me who you are! I know that we're supposed to be engaged and that's it!"

Sasuke closed his eyes scowling and gritted his teeth and he seethed, "I'm trying to help you dam nit! But I can't if you won't help _yourself_! You _have_ to trust me!"

Sakura felt tears pooling at the corners of her eyes as she stuttered, "I-I… I don't k-know you!"

Sasuke held out his hand once more to her as he gently said, "I know, but you will."

Sakura once again grasped his hand with uncertainty as he led them both to the car. She was right, he was rich, and his car was a GTO Mustang in Cobalt blue with a black stripe down the center. He clicked a button on his keys to unlock the doors that made the headlights flutter and got in the drivers seat then rolled down the window on the passenger's side.

"Are you getting in or what?" He asked her with a scowl slightly leaning over the center consol so he could see her out the window.

Sakura scowled before she put her fisted hands on her hips and hissed, "Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me like that? You're such an onry bastard!"

Sasuke smirked, "Glad to see you're remembering your personality…"

Sakura was mad so she opened the door and jumped in and slammed it behind her crossing her arms after she put her seatbelt on.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her as she glared forward like she wanted the melt the windshield before he asked, "Try to be gentler will you? This car wasn't cheap."

Sakura rolled her eyes at his snobbish tone of voice as he laid rubber out of the apartment's parking lot. Sasuke wasn't at all in a hurry he just smirked at her panic expression of his reckless driving. He could easily say that he lived to tease her. Eventually they pulled into the parking lot of the Sharingan nightclub.

"Please tell me I didn't meet you _here_…" she asked in a disgusted tone of voice.

"You work here, actually" Sasuke said with a tone of sick irony.

Sakura's eyes went wide as she asked, "What?"

"It's not as bad as you think" Sasuke said putting a hand on her shoulder, ushering her towards the building, "Just go inside and you'll figure it out I'm sure."

Sakura was hesitant but followed him up to the building and opened the doors. There was no one inside since the place was closed for business hours. Only the upper floor offices where all the finances and marketing took place were open at that time. Sasuke drug Sakura but the wrists to the middle of the lobby and made a gesture to walk around the place. Sakura shrugged and walked in circles gliding her hands along some of the large wooden pillars supporting the place's high ceiling. Eventually she came close to a hallway where she froze. She had a flashback to when she ran into Sasuke in the hall and pretty much knocked him on his ass. She ran off to embarrassed to confront him. She also remembered being late. It was her first day of work.

She turned around to face Sasuke as she whimpered pointing to the location, "You… I met you here…"

Sasuke nodded as he walked up to her and just gently rubber her back as encouragement and comfort so she could realize that she wasn't in this whole problem alone.

"What… did I do here?" she asked in a confused tone of voice staring down the hallway that she had run down after running over Sasuke.

Sasuke just took her hand and drug her down the hallway. He never had a good way with words, and he didn't want to tell her what had happened, he wanted her to remember herself what had transpired over the past year or so. When they got to the door leading to backstage he opened it and ushered Sakura inside in front of him. She just stood there frozen yet again. Sasuke resisted the urge to touch her as she was concentrated on what had happened backstage before. She basically was remembering all the girl talks with Temari and Ten-Ten, getting ready for shows, shuffling through all the girls who were actually sluts there. Then, like a zombie, she walked through the empty space onto the stage looking over the clubroom. She remembered dancing, sweating, smiling, laughing, all with her two friends she'd made here. Then she looked up and saw the plexi-glass room.

"Take me up there" she said pointing to the suspended suite.

Sasuke scratched the back of his head knowing full well what she'd remember if he took her up there, but she had to remember everything, event he stupid and embarrassing stuff. He gestured for her to follow him as they were lead down several hallways then to an elevator and once on the upper floor they were walking down several _more_ hallways. Eventually when they turned the corner Sasuke conveniently ran right into Neji who looked at Sakura then back at Sasuke.

"She doesn't have work today" he said plainly.

Sasuke then frowned at him asking, "And that matters why?"

Neji apologized then realized he was speaking out of place since Sasuke did own the place. Sakura was looking around everywhere soaking up every detail. Neji could tell and frowned before turning his attention back to Sasuke.

"Why is she acting like she's never been here?" Neji asked as he crossed his arms.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he told Sakura to go down the hallway and wait outside the first set of double doors on the left. She hesitantly looked back at him before continuing to walk down the hall out of earshot.

Sasuke crossed his arms as he explained, "I'm sure you knew about the accident that happened a while back. After she woke up, her memory was gone."

Neji nodded in understanding before asking, "I need you to sign some papers that are on your desk before you leave. They're to authorize advertisement posters around the club in exchange for funds from specific companies."

Sasuke nodded before he walked past Neji to catch up with Sakura. She was outside the doors by now. Sasuke fumbled with a chain of keys he pulled out of his pocket and unlocked the loft room. When Sakura walked in she was practically breathless it was a beautiful room with a bird's eye view of the whole club. Even though there was no business and the club room looked boring she could imagine what it looked like at night. She was looking around trying to think of what might have happened in here until she stepped on the open part and saw lights coming through the glass as her memory blurred back to the night where she had actually lost control of herself. She remember dancing with Sasuke, the very night she started working there, the night she met him. Then she sat down on the sofa in the room, the one that they almost had sex on and she immediately jumped up from it apprehensively. Sasuke could only assume by her actions that she was remembering. He then came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder which caused her to jump away from him angrily.

"You… you jerk!" she screamed causing Sasuke to raise an eyebrow, "You seduced me!"

Sasuke smirked before answering, "You made it too easy."

Sakura fumed at his arrogant answer before yawning. It had taken the whole day to go through that place. Sakura was hungry and tired and Sasuke knew it because he felt the same. He tried to grab her hand but she pulled away from him with a scowl.

"Have it your way" he said annoyed as he walked out of the room.

Sakura trudged behind him outside still not letting him hold her hand or any kind of physical contact. She knew that it was driving him crazy. She didn't know which way back through the halls so she had to wait for Sasuke outside his office while he took care of the papers that Neji had informed him about. Sakura was so impatient to get home that she nearly ripped her hair out. She kept looking at the time like it would magically go by faster, but it didn't. After about 30 minutes Sasuke realized that reading through the conditional sponsor papers was going to take longer than he realized so he had Sakura come inside his office but told her not to touch anything. Sakura took that literally so she wound up just sitting on the ground in the middle of the room.

Sasuke pinched the skin between his eyes holding papers as he asked, "What the hell are you doing?"

"You said not to touch anything" she repeated confused.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before he told her, "You can sit in a chair, stupid."

Sakura crossed her arms before asking, "Why is it you wear that ring on your finger? Is that because you want to treat me badly or does that ring mean you promise to take care of me?"

Sasuke was rather angry that she'd brought that up so he used a harsher tone than he realized as he hissed at her, "You don't even remember this ring, or yours for that matter. You don't remember what happened. You don't even remember that day. This ring means absolutely nothing until you do. Don't lecture me on my behavior when yours is just as bad and uncivil. You don't hurt inside, because you don't remember. I'm more frustrated than you realize, because I _do _remember. So sit down and shut up until I'm done here."

Sakura blinked a few times at him not really realize just how angry and upset he felt, but she decided that a witty comeback wasn't exactly the best possible option in this situation so she opted to follow what he told her. She found a nice leather chair and sat in it. After being quiet for so long she realized just how tired she was and started to doze off into sleep. She didn't realize that she was completely knocked out until it was too late.

Sasuke had realized just how quiet the room had gotten even though he was only half way through the paperwork and it had only been an hour or so. He set the papers down and looked over to where Sakura was sitting in the leather chair. She was completely out of it. Sasuke knew there was no point waking her up, but he took a moment to just stare at her. It was the most peaceful she looked all day, and even in her sleep she still seemed troubled. Sasuke felt a little remorse for being so harsh earlier when he'd told her off. He realized that she couldn't help not remembering and it was not his place to tell her just how hard she was making it for everyone else. He knew that he couldn't take her back to his house, that final memory had to be saved for last. He then decided to take the rest of his time there to finish up the paper work there. An hour later he realized that he had enough time to compile a list of places he needed to show her tomorrow in an attempt to get her memory back. He took out a pocket notebook and tried to think back to every memorable location and He came up with the following:

_The dorm_

_party hall where I held her birthday_

_campus park_

_the shower_

_make her take a better look at the bedroom_

_the cemetery_

_my house_

_the main house_

_the 'spot' on campus where she was hit_

Sasuke thought that if things were in chronological order that she would be able to remember things quickly, as well as understand everything that had led up to her loosing her memory. He hoped that it would be as if she'd never lost her memory at all, but Sasuke knew the universe was never that kind. He finally decided it was time to go back to the dorm room. He carried her to the car but she woke up when he hit a speed bump on campus before they got to the dorms, but considering her groggy behavior he opted to carry her up to the dorm instead of leaving her to rely on her own two feet.

Sasuke laid her down on the bed after assisting her to put on one of his over sized t-shirts as well as his boxers. She didn't bother trying to analyze her surroundings because of how tired she was, but she made it a point to make a mental note to do so tomorrow. Sasuke was certain that she would remember everything, and that things would return to normal when she did. There was only one thing that set him on edge. He had received a text message from his father.

_From: Dad_

_You're running out of time. Your_

_Mother and I scheduled this wedding_

_To take place in less than a month._

Sasuke wished that he were able to speak out against Fugaku's rules and his demands, but since Sasuke was the helpless heir to the company, he was forced to comply with whatever requirement Fugaku came up with, no matter how ridiculous.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

Again, I'm soooo sorry that this update took forever. I've been so busy with school that I've had to work on this chapter in like 5 minute snip-its (which don't get you very far). I'm sorry to say that not only is this story drawing to an end, but I might not be updating as much. It's not because I need lots and lots of reviews or something, it's just that I've really been trying in school I'm also having some medical issues, so I'm pretty sure that I won't constantly have time to be doing this, however, I do appreciate every single comment you all have to share with me. I really do think that my readers really do make a difference in terms of being motivated to write new chapters and such. You all are my inspiration!


	16. The Best I Can

**Disclaimer: **I DO NOT own Naruto.

I'm terribly sorry it's taken so long to update! I've had to work on my grades…. But the good news is I'm only failing ONE CLASS by .8% literally, less than one percent lol. All my other graes are high C's, A's and B's. So congrats to me! Lol. Anyways, I might do some writing over this upcoming thanksgiving break, but I also have an essay to write and three chapters to do assessments on as well as a document analysis (and that's just history). Hope you enjoy this wonderful piece of literature that came from my imagination, and my heart.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO R&R! ^(^0^)^

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Sasuke woke up early the next morning in a horrible mood. He looked over to the side to see the pinkette still sound asleep. Deciding there was no point in lingering in bed any longer, he crawled out from under the covers and plodded into the kitchen. The coffee he set up the night before had been brewed right on time like he'd set the timer for, but he made a sour face after tasting just how strong the coffee was. When he opened the fridge in search of creamer to soften the taste all he found was strawberry flavored creamer, the only flavor he _didn't_ want. He slammed the fridge door shut and tossed his coffee mug into the sink then ran a frustrated hand through his hair. The text message his dad had sent him last night was haunting him. He had to get this done in two days, otherwise the wedding would be canceled on account of the fact that the bride wouldn't be able to help plan it. Sasuke then decided on a brilliant idea, he could make her fake that she remembered. He would just have to retell what happened so she would know, but not remember. It was perfect. Sasuke's mood instantly brightened when Sakura slowly tipped-toed into the room. Yawning, she wiped the sleep from her eyes before making her way to where Sasuke was.

"I have an idea" he said flatly looking at the pinkette.

The girl looked at him with hopeful eyes indicating that she was intently listening to him.

He took a deep breath before he continued, "You have to trust me" she nodded and he continued, "We don't have the time to reinstall your memories so I'll just have to _tell_ you what happened. This is going to take a while…"

"Should I sit down or something?" She asked jokingly.

"Actually," he hesitated, "You should."

He sat down in the chair across from her and with a strait face he told her about everything. His family gatherings she attended, the engagement announcement, the way he proposed, Christmas, all the arguments and fights. Her occupation and how he limited her on how much she can do it. He told her everything. She was rather shocked and the shock was evident on her face, she didn't have time to remember all these things and him telling her just sounded like it was somebody else's story, because nothing came to mind, but she knew she had to be a big girl and accept what was happening and do her best to cope with the situation. Sasuke told her that his mom was coming over with a hospital physiatrist physician to evaluate her mental state and also decide if she really _did_ remember.

Sakura just excused herself from the table and went into the bedroom then the bathroom to take a fresh shower and burn Sasuke's words into her memory hoping something from under the surface would come up, but nothing did and it made her frustrated. She pounded the tile shower a few times trying to force herself to remember but eventually she decided to stop when he vision was going in and out and she realized she was elevating her stress levels to extraordinary heights.

"They'll be here in less than an hour. I need a shower too." Sasuke said flatly from the other side of the bathroom door.

Sakura didn't want to leave the watery prism she'd created for herself. A protective cocoon that only festered her frustration and anger at herself. How could she forget things that were so important? So many memories with a man she supposedly loved. She was still slightly uncomfortable around him. And she knew this must be even more frustrating for him because he was the one who _did_ remember all those things and now he has to deal with someone not remembering them. It had to be painful for sure, she was certain of that. Sakura realized that she was pruning and turned off the shower and got out. Sasuke was sitting impatiently on the bed staring at the clock on the wall with his legs crossed she came out of the bathroom and steam wafting out behind her.

Sasuke turned his attention from the wall clock to Sakura with a scowl as he got up and walked towards the door behind her saying, "Get dressed they'll be here in less than ten minutes. I have to take a shower."

She suddenly felt bad for hogging the shower for so long, but her thoughts were interrupted when she realized she had less than five minutes to get dressed before Sasuke's mother and the doctor would show up on her 'dorm step'. She fled into her closet and quickly thumbed through every possible article of clothing before she picked a simple magenta t-shirt with a pink penguin on it and a pair of white wash jeans and socks. She didn't worry about shoes since she was inside. Then she saw Sasuke come into the room not even bothering to wear a towel around his waist since it was confidently swung over his shoulder. Sakura ran out of the room shrieking and Sasuke just rolled his eyes. He realized that it isn't the Sakura that remembers she's had seen all of it before, but the Sakura that only _knows_ she seen it before. Sasuke was so irritated with all of it. He hadn't gotten one kiss, one hug, nothing. She held his hand, but he only did that so she didn't go wandering off like a stray puppy, which she had a tendency to do. He was so frustrated with the whole situation that he wasn't sure if she would be the same Sakura he asked to marry him, maybe now that she had lost some of her memory her behavior, personality, and everything else about her would change. He took the towel and roughly rubbed his hair in it to dry it as best he could. Then ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he took a deep breath. This was going to be the biggest challenge he'd ever faced, staying in love with someone who's forgotten you while trying to get them to love you back. God he hated his life…

Sakura was shuffling around the kitchen after she'd run out of the room. Sasuke had left dishes in the sink besides his coffee mug and she was trying to clean and put them away as quickly as possible but she didn't realize that she was getting water everywhere. So when she ran to answer the door after the doorbell rang, she tripped and fell flat on her face. Sasuke had finished getting dressed and came out of the bedroom and gave her a sideways glace before stepping _over_ her to go answer the door. When he opened it he saw just who he was expecting, his mother and the psychiatrist. Mikoto looked over Sasuke's shoulder to see Sakura on the floor.

She rushed past her son gasping, "Oh no! Did you hurt yourself!"

Sakura sheepishly ginned as she accepted Mikoto's help to stand back up and answered, "No I'm fine, I promise."

"You ought to watch out for her more Sasuke! Why didn't you help her up?" Mikoto scolded her already irritated son.

"Please" he scoffed, "She's not _that_fragile."

"Sasuke!" his mother shouted.

The psychiatrist didn't want to get in the middle of the problem, but he had work to do and this squabble had to end, "Please, please, just settle down I have some evaluations I have to get done, so please resume this argument later. I'm sure that if she's says she's fine, she's quite alright."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, he knew he was being an asshole, but he was frustrated which put him the worst of attitudes. His mother knew it too. Although Sasuke felt like for some reason she didn't deserve it, cause he hardly knew her as it was.

The doctor walked over to the sofa and asked, "May I?"

"Of course!" Sakura answered as she walked over and he gesture for her to sit across from him.

Mikoto sat next to the doctor and Sasuke trudged his way over to the seat next to Sakura. The silence was so immense that in of itself was almost audible. The doctor was uncomfortable himself but he had to ask a few questions.

"So how much do you remember?" he asked her calmly.

Sakura looked at him with a smile then said, "All of it."

Instantly Mikoto became suspicious.

"Where did you live?" The doctor asked as he leaned forward to truly be able to hear ever word she spoke.

Sakura did clearly remember those memories though. Describing her past life she laughed up until the point where she remembered loosing her mother, their father abandoning them, and so on. She even continued onto how they all lived together in the city where Gaara and Sassori still resided. The doctor was thoroughly impressed and sure that she remembered those memories.

"Anything else past that?" The doctor asked.

Sakura hesitated and almost told the truth until Sasuke gave her subtle tap on the foot with his. He didn't even know why he wanted this wedding to continue if she didn't even fully remember her relationship with him.

"Umm… well I remember having a birthday party at a expensive ballroom. I was kidnapped and everyone was there to greet me. I know- I mean I remember that I work at the Sharingan, with some of my friends Ten-Ten and Temari. Then I remember Sasuke staying with me for hours at my mother's grave in the city. I also remember Christmas, and that's when he proposed. Oh and I got a car and all sorts of presents."

Mikoto scowled at Sasuke, she knew that Sakura didn't remember hardly anything after she met Sasuke. She mouthed something to her son along of the lines of 'you're not going to go trough with this…' Sasuke just scowled at her then looked back at the doctor.

The man stood-up and said, "Well it seems there are some details missing from your memories, but you seem to remember the important events up until now, so as far as I'm concerned I can sign your papers and say you're fully treated. Congratulations Ms. Haruno on your engagement as well."

Sakura smiled as she took a copy of the doctor's papers for her own personal filing. She had a miserable look on her face as she went back into the bedroom to file it with her other medical files she kept. Sasuke walked Mikoto to the door long after the doctor had left. His mother was sourly upset with him.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" she asked him bitterly.

His only answer was, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Mikoto was furious as she hissed, "You know _damn_ well what I mean! You made her lie to the doctor that she remembered some of the most important events of her life!"

"That's not my problem. I'm running out of time, so don't pick your bone with me."

Sasuke turned around and headed towards the bedroom but looked over his shoulder and said, "I ran out of time. You can't expect me to play fair when he's backing me into a corner mom."

Sasuke went into the bedroom and Mikoto just stood there by the door for a few minutes with a somber expression, but tears refusing to fall. She walked out of the door and closed it behind her. She had a bone to pick with someone else now.

* * *

Sasuke walked into the room to see Sakura sitting in the corner thumbing through a small folder of medical files. She eventually looked up and saw him standing in front of the door with it closed behind him. She just scowled at him and got up to leave the room, but he put his arm out and blocked the door.

"No" was the only word that escaped his mouth.

"No?" She asked him angrily with a rhetorical undertone, "I don't even remember you! I have no reason to _trust_ you! And you're starting to scare me! I'm leaving!"

Sasuke ground his teeth, as he seethed, "You don't even know where to go."

"Home!" she shouted.

Sasuke snapped as he angrily seethed, "And where the hell do you think that is? That cramped apartment with your brothers? Your ghost town home in the middle of nowhere? Your dead mother's grave? She can't take care of you anymore!"

"That was one comment too far you asshole…" Sakura hissed as she finally knocked him out of the way and stormed out of the room and out of the dorm.

She realized that she only had her cell phone, she didn't have her car keys, and she realized that her car was at Sasuke's house like he'd told her before. She only saw his car, and she was sure she couldn't go back in there and get to his keys, so she just started walking. She didn't know where, why, or how, but she knew she couldn't stay there. She was tired and depressed and confused, a deadly combination. She kept muttering curse words under her breath about him. She was so lost without anyone. Eventually she found herself in the middle of the city with no money, no keys, and nothing but a cell phone and the cloths on her back. She didn't realize just how much danger she'd put herself in, but she'd never go back to Sasuke saying he was right.

(Play "Best I Can" by the Art of Dying)

Sakura walked along the crowded sidewalk of the city not recognizing where she was going or who was passing her on the street. She kept trying to remember as hard as she could, every fiber of her being kept tell her not to trust that raven haired man, but her heart said that she owed him everything. Eventually Sakura came to a little alley and she ran a hand along all the bricks till she reached a chain link fence blocking her continuation down the alley. Right when she was about to turn around she heard a rusty metal door open into the alley and a blond woman with her hair in a ponytail started screaming at her.

"Sakura! Sakura! Sakura wait!" Ino shouted as Sakura ran away with tears streaming down her face.

Ino did her best to run the pinkette down, but as soon as Sakura left the alley, she was out of sight. Ino thought it was odd considering her outrageous pink hair.

"Who the hell was she? Who the hell am _**I?**_**…**" Sakura whispered under her breath as she continued walking down the sidewalk at a brisk pace as far from the alley as possible.

Any contact she had with any of her memories was almost painful. She eventually found a small alley where there seemed to be no doors leading from shops into it, and it was peaceful. Sakura held onto the sleeves of her jacket as she slid down to sit on the concrete with her head against the wall, and she slowly drifted out of consciousness

* * *

Mikoto slammed through the front doors of the Uchiha mansion and immediately wound her way through the endless halls until she found the living room and waltzed right up to her husband, turned the TV off and stood angrily right in front of him.

"This isn't like you" he stated half heartedly, "You're being angrily assertive."

Mikoto scowled even deeper as she crossed her arms and asked maliciously, "Did you give Sasuke a time limit on how long he had to help Sakura get her memories back?"

"So what if I did?" came his arrogant reply, "He needs to take over the company fairly soon, and he can't do that if he's wasting his life helping that girl."

"_that girl_ is your daughter in law!" She shouted, "You told me you liked her! You can't rush these things Fugaku! Some of the best things in life take time…"

"Like what?" he asked scowling thinking he could outsmart her.

"Like raising sons… they took 18 years a piece and they still need guidance sometimes… and what about us? You think we happened overnight? Please… just give him more time…"

Fugaku ran a frustrated hand over his face before sighing, "Fine, as long as he can attend all the business meetings I need him to be at for the handing over of the company to him."

"I'm sure that won't be a problem" Mikoto sighed with relief as she went to go pick up the phone and call Sasuke with the news.

As she reached for the phone it went off first.

"Hello, Uchiha residence" she answered politely as ever.

"She's gone" came the voice on the other end of the line.

* * *

Thanks so much for being patient with me! I plan on uploading a chapter as soon as possible, I'm sad to report that it might be the last one as well! I know that the other characters have sorta disappeared out of the plot line, but right now I'm focusing on Sakura and Sasuke, just them. Cause they play the two most important roles with each other. Thanks for your patience!

Please remember to read and review!


	17. In Your Darkest Hour

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a few months! I've just been soooo busy. I'm also sorry that the last chapter was so short and unfulfilling, as well as the massive cliff hanger. Things are going to come to a close here pretty soon (thank god). I hope that you enjoy what's left of this eternal love story! (It feels like an eternity writing it!)

* * *

"What do you mean _she's gone_!" came Mikoto's panicked voice on the other end of the phone, "Sorry, just let me take a breath and tell me what happened."

There was a small pause of silence before Sasuke spoke into the phone again, "I said something I shouldn't have when she was debating leaving, and then she ultimately left forcefully. I couldn't keep her here if I wanted to, but I thought she'd come back since she had nowhere else to go."

"Sasuke…" his mother sighed, "It's 4am. What was your first clue she wasn't coming back?"

"I don't need your dry sarcasm right now, I need Sakura."

"Well I'm sorry to say, but you're going to have to call the police, and report her missi-"

"He can't do that" Fugaku cut in sharply, "The tabloids will eat him up alive. You can see it can't you? _Future Uchiha Company owner can't control his own wife._"

Mikoto scowled at him, but she knew he was right. The tabloids would twist the situation and completely leave out the fact that Sakura was in an accident and lost almost all of her memory, at least the ones with Sasuke.

"Then what is he supposed to do?" she asked with her palm over the speaker of the phone looking at her husband on the couch.

Fugaku scratched his face and then stared off into space for a bit, but eventually he turned to Mikoto and said, "Get him to make a search party of no more than ten trusted friends to search for Her."

Mikoto sighed but then spoke into the phone and gave Sasuke the directions. Sasuke immediately grabbed his keys and drove off towards the night-club. They were closed for the day, but there was a faculty/staff party going on for the upcoming of spring. It was still a few weeks off, so it was still cold outside, which is why Sasuke was worried about Sakura. She only had a thin hoodie on. It was warm enough for a run to the store, but not to stay out in the city in the cold. He knew she was somewhere there, because there was no where else she would go. She had no idea where anything else was, and there is safety in populated areas. Or so _she_ would think. Sasuke pulled into the club's parking lot about 4:30am, he didn't know who all would be here, but he hoped it would be everyone he needed. When he walked through the double doors he was greeted by silence, but as he paused and looked around he heard faint laughter coming form up above him. They were in the overlook. He made his way upstairs and down the hall to the overlook over the club and found his half drunk employees dancing to music and chatting. He walked up to Shikamaru and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What now?" the man asked looking over his shoulder with a bored face.

Sasuke scowled then said, "Sakura left the dorm and didn't come back. She fled into the city."

"Fled?" he asked as he turned around with one brow raised, "Why use the word 'fled'?"

Sakura wiped a frustrated hand over his face as he grunted, "I said something I shouldn't have and she got upset and ran off."

"What a drag…" he muttered, but then looked back at Sasuke and asked, "So you want us to help you look for her right? Because you can't call the police and cause a publicity stunt?"

Sasuke nodded, Shikamaru was to good at deducing the situation sometimes.

"I'll round up the animals down here and hope they're sober enough to go search. Neji's upstairs on the 3rd floor offices."

Sasuke nodded and waved in thanks as he went to go see Neji. Even though it was Sasuke's job, Neji practically ran the place. And just as Sasuke had suspected, the white-eyed man wasn't partaking in the faculty festivities he was spending his time organizing the filing cabinets instead.

Sasuke leaned up against the doorframe with his arms crossed then asked, "Are you busy?"

Neji put down his papers with his eyes narrowed, "You're never considerate if someone's too busy. What happened?"

Sasuke tried to ignore the hidden insult and explained what had happened, "Sakura left after I said something hurtful. I think she ran into the city, but I'm not sure where she went."

Neji stood up from his seat with his hands on the desk and a serious look on his face, more serious than usual as he calmly stated, "It's not my job to clean up your social catastrophies, however I'll make an exception in Sakura's case, she's already been through enough. You just better treat her right this time. You don't strike me as impatient, but learn to have a bit of empathy towards her. Next time I'll settle things in Sakura's best interest, not yours."

Sasuke nodded with a smirk as he exited the office.

* * *

All members of the search party stood before him. Two sober, most tipsy, and a few wasted. Shikamaru and Neji were sober as was to be expected. Kiba, Temari, Ten-Ten, and two other staff members were tipsy, and Naruto and one other staff member were hammered. Sasuke wiped a frustrated hand over his face. He had a feeling Naruto would be wasted, but he almost didn't let him go look for Sakura.

"Listen up" came his smooth and confident tone despite what he was feeling inside, "Sakura's somewhere in the city. And as time goes by her chances of being health, even alive, get slimmer and slimmer. You are to go into the city in two cars. Neji and Shikamaru are driving since they're sober. Also use the buddy system, and one of you needs to be sober. A team of two drunkards is completely useless and will only cause further problems. I hope everyone understands because I'm not repeating myself. Keep your cell phones in your hands and report all information to me first, then spread it to everyone else. Make sure you have each other's numbers as well. Move quickly and leave no ground uncovered."

Everyone split up into the vans as Sasuke got into his car and drove into the city.

Sasuke sped off down the freeway. He could care less if he got a speeding ticket. The only thing racing was his heart as he ran every possible scenario through his head. He couldn't help but think that something bad had happened to her. Especially when a shiver ran down his spine. Everything looked ominous as he drove into the heart of the city to fan out and search.

* * *

Sakura woke up in the alley and realized how cold and dark it was. She couldn't help but shiver through her thin hoodie. She stumbled as she tried to stand, because her legs were numb. The cold penetrated her to the bone. She couldn't even see her own breath due to her internal temperature dropping. No one was on the street except for a few dilenquents and harmless drunkards making they're way home. She stumbled down the street. She kept seeing a silloutte and she had to figure out where it was going.

* * *

"You've seen her haven't you?" Sasuke asked as he held his cell phone up to his ear.

Ino was tired and didn't appreciate being woken up so early in the morning, "I don't have to tell you anything."

"You're not helping her" he sneered, "She's disoriented and confused."

"And _you're_ making her feel worse!"

"She's cold and lost Ino, just tell me where to look. I know she's not with you cause you would tell me."

Ino sighed, "I saw her wandering around the alley where my store's back entrance was. I tried to talk to her but I guess I frightened her and she ran away. I don't know where she went after that I lost her in the crowd when she ran out of the alley."

"Well now I know that she's wandering around parts of the city away from the general public. That narrows it down, so it's not a total waste. Go back to sleep Ino."

Sasuke didn't wait for the blond to answer him back, he just hung up the phone and got out of the car. He walked ten minutes to Ino's flower shop then to the alley. He then tried to put himself in Sakura's shoes and looked for the next closest alley, but there was no one back in it. He looked around for anyone who might've seen her. There was only a drunk man sitting on a bench.

Sasuke pulled out a picture of her and put it in front of his face and asked, "Have you seen her?" the old man kept staring at the picture and Sasuke almost walked away but instead he pointed.

"She went that way" he said in a cold raspy voice.

Sasuke pulled a ten dollar bill out of his pocket and gave it to the man. He smiled greatfuly and added, "She was walking all wabbly though, and she wasn't dressed in warm cloths."

Sasuke nodded and walked in that general direction as he kept thinking what could possibly be that way. And then it hit him.

"_She can't go there! Not now!"_

He then started running.

(Play A Day Without Rain by Enya)

* * *

Sakura wandered through iron gates. She was following a shadow that she felt was leading her somewhere but it was too dark to see it now, instead there was a firefly in front of her face in place of the shadow, she assumed.

"A firefly…?" she mumbled, "In winter…?"

She followed it for several minutes until it landed on a smoothly carved rock. When it's abdomen lit up again she saw something engraved on the rock. It was so dark she could only see outlines of object. But she took out her cell phone and used the light from the screen to read the stone, which she realized was a grave marker. It was the grave of her _mother_.

"You brought me home…" she started whimpering as she fell to her knees in front of the grave and cried, "Oh mom… I'm so confused! I need you now more than ever…"

She ran a hand over her mother's name as she sobbed, "There's a man I promised to marry, but I don't know who he is! I don't know who I am… I only know that you're the one person who wouldn't misuse my trust. You're my mother… I only know you by that name, but it's so full of emotion for me. More than any other name, and only my heart knows why…"

She leaned both hand against the stone as her shoulders started to shake while she was crying and she had a flashback to what she assumed was her past.

"_Mom! I can't sleep…" Sakura whined as she tugged on her mother's skirt._

_Her mother put down what she was working on and looked at the small 4 year old Sakura. "Would you like a night light?"_

_Sakura nodded with a blank face as she watched her mother grab a glass jar and turn to look at her, "Go wait for me in your bed I'll be there in a minute."_

_Sakura hobbled to her room and slipped under the covers waiting excitedly for what her mother was going to bring her. A few moments later her mother walked into the room with a glass jar full of fireflies._

"_They should help you sleep easier. They're nature's lanterns." She explained to Sakura, "They light up to talk to each other and light the way as well."_

"_Really?" Sakura asked with doubt and excitement mixed together._

"_Really and truly. And one day when I can no longer speak, I'll talk to you the same way, through light." Her mother said as she kissed Sakura's forhead, "In your darkest hour, I will always light the way for you."_

Sakura looked around and realized she was not only in the company of the firefly on the grave marker, but dozens flying around her head and resting in the grass around her as well.

"It really _is_ you…" she sobbed while digging her nails into the lettering of the grave, "You're the only one to keep your promises… my mother… the one who was always patient, kind, giving, and irreplaceable… even though you've only lit the way to where I can find your remains, you're here with me right now, in spirit, aren't you? I've never felt so close to you in the past two years you've been gone… God knows how much I've missed you… I wish I could talk to you…"

"Crazy lady…" a man with a raspy voice said from behind her. Sakura turned around hoping it was Sasuke, but to her surprise she'd never seen the man before.

He walked up to her and Sakura never thought to back away. Something about him seemed familiar. She couldn't see his face clearly until his hands were wringing her neck. The glimpse of the cemetery lights slightly illuminated his face. He looked like _her_…

"Still don't recognize me princess?" came his angry tone.

"Dad?..." came her gasp of a response.

He smirked as he asked, "So she didn't make you _completely _forget about me, huh?"

Sakura tried desperately to free herself from the man's grip, but it was futile.

"I wondered why I'd never run into any of you kids in the city. I bet you didn't know I've been living here since I left you and your mother, did you? I planned to come looking for you, but then I found out your mother died, so there was no point in reuniting the family again, ya know?"

Sakura just kept hitching her breath in an attempt to keep consciousness, but she started to smell something.

"Dad you're drunk?..." she manage to eek out.

"Well I'm glad you noticed! I'm not drunk princess, but I have had one drink or two. I just can't believe I found you here!"

"Dad you hurting me!" were her words as she managed to get a gasp of breath.

"I'll send you to your mother soon sweetheart. I promise it won't hurt for much longer."

"Why? I don't understand…."

"Then let me enlighten you. You kids never took care of your mother. That's why she died. I wanted to be with her again, but you took that opportunity away from me! I can never forgive you for that!" He shouted.

"She died…. I-in a c-car crash…"

"Because you didn't take care of her! She shouldn't have had to go out on Christmas Eve!"

* * *

Sasuke tried his best to keep his cool as he entered the cemetery gates, but when he saw how dark it was he had the worst feeling. He heard distant shouting and headed that direction, but soon it stopped entirely and he was lost on what direction to go. He found his way to the path and followed the lit pathway until he saw a silhouette lying in the grass. He might've overlooked it if it weren't for a flash of pink. He ran immediately and realized it was in fact her mother's grave. He though she was just asleep except when he realized she wasn't moving, at all.

* * *

FEAR NOT! THIS IS NOT THE END! I PROMISE YOU!

However I do believe the next chapter will be my last… I hope. Anyway please read and review! ^(^0^)^


	18. Sometimes Goodbye Is A Second Chance

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey guys! I was hoping to wrap this story up with this chapter, but I'll decide what to do at the end. I hope that you all have enjoyed reading my imagination thus far! I'm sorry for the monumental cliffhanger, but I gotta keep you guys coming back for more!

Enjoy and please remember to read and review! ^_^

* * *

Sasuke scooped her up in his arms clenching his teeth. He wished he could take back everything he'd said to her. Their last moments, he wished that he could do them over. He knew that guys like him never got second chances to do it right, and he started crying. Sasuke swore he'd never shed tears over a broken heart. But his heart wasn't just broken. It was shattered. Sasuke then laid her on the ground, and expression of terror on her face. He then took his cell phone and noticed her next was blood red. Someone has suffocated her.

"Who did this to you?..." he growled angrily, "Who _murdered_ you?..."

Sasuke ground his teeth as he said, "I'll _**kill**_them…"

He then heard rustling in the trees to the left and saw a shadow moving through them.

Scowling he shouted, "I'll call the police if you don't come out and face me right now! Coward!"

The person stopped in their tracks, being found out was detrimental, but he knew that if he didn't come out then the man who called out would come after _him._ Sakura's father emerged from the trees. Sasuke's eyes widened as he immediately recognized the resemblance. It was unmistakable. He remember a while back how Sakura had said that their father had left them to fend for themselves with their mother, so why come after them now?

"You'll pay for what you did to her…" He growled as he reached for the knife he kept in his back pocket, "I'll make you wish you were in hell…"

The man gulped as he said, "I don't understand I'm her _father_. Why would _I _kill her?"

"I can smell the alcohol on your breath from here. Furthermore, no one related to her would be creeping in the underbrush while she's lying out here her dead on the grass if they cared about her. That means you killed her. There's no one else around for miles in this cemetery…"

The man's façade melted as a wicked grin graced his features, "Well it's only fair. She killed my wife."

"You're wife died in a car accident" Sasuke corrected him, "Sakura would never kill the most important person to her."

"Don't act like you were there! Like you _know _what happened…" he hissed in a condescending tone.

While the two men were arguing with Sasuke's knife pulled, the fireflies started to climb onto Sakura, illuminating parts of her body. Sakura appeared dead, but in fact she was in a state of suspended animation. She _was_ dead, but if someone resuscitated her, she could be brought back to life. Her mother was using all her power to keep Sakura in a state that she could be saved. Supernatural things have never been understood, and a mother's love is one of them. It can transcend time and space, even death. Sakura was soon in her own subconscious, her mother standing before her.

"Mom!" she shouted to the figure standing gracefully before her, but out of reach for some reason, "You really did lead me to you! Let's be together again… please…"

"No." came her simple reply.

Sakura's expression of joy turned to one of confusion as she asked, "Why?"

"You have too many people who need you _here_. I can wait."

"Like who? The man I don't know?"

"That's the man I see you marrying you young lady, you owe him _everything_. Your heart was right."

"But... how am _I_ supposed to know that? This is all a dream though right?"

"No, it's not Sakura. You're dead."

"What?" her face was one of shock as she turned around and saw Sasuke holding her dead body, "I don't understand… that's me?"

"Yes, as of right now, you're dead, but I can still help you."

"How?"

"I will light your way, just like I promised, in your darkest hour, I will be here, to guide you. And when I return you to your body, I will return that which once was yours, your memories."

Sakura wasn't able to cry, but she would be sobbing if she were able to and not just a spirit. She then turned around again and saw Sasuke and her father arguing with Sasuke's knife pulled. She ran over to slap the knife out of Sasuke's hand and stand between the two, but her hand went right through Sasuke's.

"You're dead" her mother reminded her, "You have no affect on the material world."

But Sakura could tell that she _did_ have an effect cause Sasuke jumped slightly and looked at his hand holding the knife and when he looked back up the man he was arguing with was fleeing into the woods. Sasuke immediately turned his attention back to Sakura, putting the knife back in his pocket, and was about to brush the fireflies off of Sakura if it weren't for a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Don't." came Sassori's commanding tone.

Sasuke turned around and was about to ask but Sassori informed him, "Neji texted me that Sakura was gone. I knew she'd be here."

"You're sister's _dead_!" Sasuke shouted, "How are you so calm."

"_She's_ here. They _both_ are."

"What?... Who? An angel? A ghost?"

"Our mother. Sakura as well."

Sasuke's eyes went wide as he looked at Sakura's lifeless body and asked, "What to fireflies have to do with _anything_?"

Sassori had some tears rolling down his cheeks as he whispered, "It's not my place to answer that, you'll have to ask Sakura. But it's definitely _her_…"

Sasuke watched quietly in amazement, as more fireflies piled onto Sakura's body then asked, "How are there this many fireflies in winter? This doesn't make any sense…"

"That's how I know it's her" Sassori replied, "Just wait."

Sakura was looking at the two who were looking at her dead body. She wanted to comfort them both.

"You'll get to talk to them soon enough, but time is of the essence." Her mother said putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura put a hand over her mother's hand on her shoulder and whimpered, "I've been waiting so long to talk to you… I don't want to go yet…"

"I know sweetheart, but if you don't it will be too late. As time goes by the chances of me being able to guide you back are less likely."

Sakura took a deep breath then said, "I'm ready."

Her mother nodded then instructed her, "Lay down next to your body, and close your eyes. I'm going to put my hands on your real body's forehead, and you need to close your eyes and follow the path of the fireflies I have provided for you… but _don't_ go into the bright light you might see. Then you'll cross over and you'll never be able to return…"

Sakura nodded and laid down next to her lifeless strangled body as she saw her mother's hands magically rest on her forehead, and Sakura began to follow the path of the fireflies her mother set for her.

Both boys watched in amazement as glowing outlines of hands appeared on Sakura's forehead where the bugs seemed to cleared away.

"That's not possible…" Sasuke whispered.

He had always doubted supernatural events and hated things that had no scientific explanation or reason, but at this point he didn't care as long as he got Sakura back. He was too careless, and he was actually being given a second chance.

Sakura kept walking along the path, and she did see a bright light, but as inviting as it looked she refused to go in. She had her mind dead set on getting back to her body. Eventually she got to the end of the pathway and everything went black, had she done it? Was she successful?

Sasuke saw that every firefly was lit up simultaneously as the palm prints on her forehead began to glow, something was happening, a second chance was being born, and Sasuke was more than grateful. He never thought he would be able to see her again. But he nearly jumped back when she sat up in the blink of an eye and started tossing about as the fireflies that were piled on her body started scattered and flew in every direction. Sasuke quickly scooped her up and held her still while she appeared to be having a seizure and grabbing at her throat.

"Call 911!" Sasuke shouted at Sassori.

Sassori was already dialing them when Sasuke had shouted at him, and not even five minutes later an ambulance had arrived. Sasuke let Sassori ride in the back with her, because Sasuke wanted to drive there and be able to have a means of transportation with him. He also had to text everyone to let them know that he'd found her and they were at the hospital. Sasuke didn't know weather to be happy that she was alive, or concerned that she might die again. Either way it was better than her being dead in the cemetery. Sasuke also made it a point to find her father wherever he was and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.

* * *

Everyone was waiting impatiently in the lobby of the hospital with Sasuke. After everything Sasuke had seen that day he didn't feel particularly worried. Sakura's mother wouldn't give her a second chance at life if she were just going to die right after. She now had a reason to live. Sasuke wasn't sure if he even deserved a second chance, but he would cherish it more than anything else he'd ever received before.

"Family of Haruno" the nurse called into the lobby.

Gaara and Sassori stood up Gaara grabbed Sasuke's shirt and dragged him with them. When the nurse led them into the hospital room Sakura surprisingly just had bandages and a brace on her neck, a few IV's and that was it. It was a much more pleasant sight for Sasuke than when she'd been hit by the car and was hooked up to everything except life support.

"The doctor will be in shortly," the nurse said politely as she exited the room, closing the door behind her.

All three men say silently. They had a mutual understand and appreciation of silence. As much as Sasuke could tolerate silence, he couldn't tolerate not being next to Sakura. He walked over and sat on the foot of the hospital bed and moved some of the hair away from her face. Sassori was texting everyone in the lobby of the situation, and Gaara was staring out the window at the rising sun. It was 7am and everything was starting to come alive.

The doctor walked into the room and set the clipboard on the table as he looked at the three men intently watching him. Sassori's phone was back in his pocket and Sasuke's reluctant gaze now fixed on the doctor instead of Sakura.

"Well I have excellent news, and only slightly bad news." The doctor said with enthusiasm, which seemed to lighten the mood of the room, "The good news is she's going to be just fine. Her bronchial tubes and trachea had collapsed, but we put her on oxygen for a while, and they slowly restored. There's no permanent brain damage, however the not so good news is we don't know about the state of her amnesia. There's a 50/50 chance you might have to start from square 1 again, because of the seizure she had. We also don't know when she'll regain consciousness, however we are confident that she won't fall into a coma again."

The three men felt a lot better knowing all of that, but Sasuke was still worried about a coma. It was dreadful the last time she fell into a coma like that. She also didn't like hospitals, so what was he to do if she woke up and he wasn't here?

* * *

A few days passed and Sasuke came in bright and early in the morning with a new fresh flower to put in a vase by Sakura's bedside, there were three now. He pulled up a chair to her bedside and sat there looking at her peaceful face. The neck brace was gone, but you could still see the bruising on her neck. He went to sweep a hair from her face when a hand came up and lethargically swatted at his. He jumped a little but then rested his hand on her face as she opened her eyes.

"I bet you don't even know who I am do you?" Sasuke said absent-mindedly.

"Stupid, I know who you are…" she grumbled then she jumped, "My ring! Where's my ring!"

She started scrambling around searching for it but Sasuke quickly grabbed her arm and asked skeptically, "What ring?"

Sakura scowled at him before brushing his arm away and sarcastically seethed, "You know, the one you put in the _ornament_ on the Christmas tree! When you kidnapped me to your house that Christmas Eve? Was it just a dream?..."

Sasuke fell on his knees on the floor as he grabbed her hand and said, "You're the _real_ Sakura… aren't you?..."

The pinkette was beyond confused, "What re you talking about? Of course it's me! Who else has this obnoxious hair color?"

"But I never told you about the ring…" he mumbled trying to get his groundings that she was really back.

"Of course you didn't tell me!" she shouted, "You proposed and put it on my finger" pointing to the finger that was bereft of the said ring.

Sasuke reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ring box and said, "You don't remember what happened do you?"

Sakura realized she was in a hospital and panicked for a moment before muttering, "No… not really…"

Sasuke took a deep breath and then did his best to explain things, "You were in a horrendous accident. You were walking somewhere when a drunk driver came along full speed and hit you. You're lucky to be alive. But the damage caused you to have amnesia. When you woke up you didn't know who I was, you hated me. You were able to eventually remember your childhood and your past up until you met me, and then you remembered hardly anything. Then as time passed I grew impatient and said something I shouldn't have and you left. When I found you, you were dead in the cemetery in front of your mother's grave-"

Sakura cut in quickly, "How could I have been dead, I'm here aren't I?"

Sasuke shook his head, "You were dead. Look in the mirror at your neck."

Sakura jumped when she looked into the mirror and the back of her hospital door and saw the gruesome bruising all along her neck.

"You're father had choked –"

"My father is gone. He left us…." Sakura cut in defensively.

Sasuke scowled as he said, "Well you two were undeniably closely related, and he looked just like you. He even told me he's come after all of you because when he found out his wife was dead he thought that you just didn't take care of her. He was also drunk. I was going to kill him. I had my knife pulled, but I felt something swat at my hand, like wind, but with a shape. I thought it was you, and as soon as he fled back into the woods I sat next to your body. You're eyes were still open and your face looked like terror. Then fireflies started to climb all over your body, and completely covered it."

"It's winter that's impossible…"

Sasuke then wiped his brow and pinched the skin between his eyes before he continued, "I think you're mother brought you back to life."

"That wasn't a dream?" she asked.

"No. You probably saw me and your father at a stand still, and then you probably saw me and your brother watch your mother bring you back to life."

"But you didn't see her?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"Sassori had told me that there was something special between you and your mother with the fireflies. He said there was no doubt it was her."

Sakura started crying. She had really seen her mother, for the first time in years. She didn't remember what had happened before she supposedly died, but she remembered desperately swatting at Sasuke's hand when he was holding the knife. She then remembered the path of fireflies, and then nothing, just darkness until now.

"How long has it been? Since I was out?" Two days. I was afraid you'd go into a coma again…

"Again?"

"When you were hit by that car you were out for weeks…"

"Oh… I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. I should've taken better care of you…"

Sakura wasn't quite sure what to say next, so it was Sasuke who broke the silence, "What about the fireflies?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke and then back down at her lap as she explained, "When I was little my mom used to make me a night light of fireflies, in the summer of course when they were around. She told me they were nature's lanterns to light the path home. She also said that they speak to each other through light. She told me that one day when she couldn't speak to me through words she speak to me through light, through the fireflies. She said in my darkest hour, she would light my way home. I took it literally, when a firefly guided me to her grave, but in reality she lit the way back for my spirit to re-enter my body, and death was my darkest hour, not feeling lost…"

"So do you remember anything while you had amnesia?"

"Just that night… that horrifying night…"

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her as a nurse was just about to come in but she saw the two and turned around to walk away.

"Wait" Sasuke told her, "I was just finished up here. You might want to go ahead and do what you need to. I'll be back in an hour to pick her up."

The nurse entered the room blushing apologizing then asked, "You want her to be an outpatient for amnesia as well?"

"That won't be necessary," he said before he left the room and headed to his car.

Sakura was poked full of needles as blood was drawn for tests, the doctor also confirmed that she had truly recovered from the amnesia, not just the fake stunt they pulled back at the dorm when she spat back what Sasuke told her.

* * *

Sasuke entered the house as a footman took his coat and the head maid walked up to him scolding him to take his shoes off before entering.

"She's coming home. Have something really special waiting for her here. If you can do it by tonight, I'll give you and everyone else who helps a bonus this week." Sasuke told her as he ran into his room to take a shower and freshen up, as well as grab some cloths for Sakura to wear. When Sasuke came back out everyone was shuffling to get ready for Sakura. He smirked in satisfaction to himself as he descended the staircase looking at all the busy people. For once in his life he didn't feel like a Scrouge. However as soon as he walked out to his car and pressed the unlock button the headlights flashed onto an ominous figure sitting on the hood of his car.

* * *

Ok so not as fulfilling as I wanted, so I might do one more chapter and stuffz, but this sorta is coming to a close, not many cliff hangers yet, and weddings are tricky, so I'm not going to try and write about that, I'm just going to end some time BEFORE that… I'll just make sure everything is resolved, like Sakura reuniting with Sasuke, Sakura's crazy homicidal drunkard father, ect.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this! PLEASE REVIEW! ^(^0^)^


	19. Let The Games Begin

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

Alright guys not sure when the end is going to be near. I might drag this out a few more chapters just so there's no weird cliff hangers like "what about Sakura's homicidal father?" so yeah. By the way, I'm not a fan of sad endings so just know you'll be smiling when you read the last line in this epic saga that's been taking me since the beginning of my freshman year (I'm now halfway through my Junior year, that's 2 ½ years.) to write!

Please read and review! ^(^0^)^ WOOT!

* * *

Sasuke tried to get in his car and ignore the presence but a hand slapped over the door handle and Sasuke just stood there with a pensive look on his face as the husky voice spoke, "Father approves on one condition."

The vein on Sasuke's temple was visibly throbbing as he hissed, "Father's done enough. He doesn't need to interlope himself into my business anymore."

"You're wrong" came the monotone voice laced with underlying amusement, "Father says you must attend all the business meetings that handle the handing over of the company. He's resigning by the end of next year, in 18 months."

Sasuke cursed inside his head as he ground out through gritted teeth, "I'll go talk to father myself later. Right now I have something more important."

"A person over your career? You really are foolish little brother, because a meeting is being held in an hour and I came myself to inform you since I knew you wouldn't have half a mind to look at your phone and the 15 e-mails father sent you."

Sasuke pulled out his phone and there were now 17 e-mails. He didn't have time for this!

"How long is this thing going to take?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"Until late tonight, it may be adjourned and continued early tomorrow morning." Itachi replied dryly, "Should I take your precious 'cargo' back to the house from the hospital?"

Sasuke scowled and said, "I don't want you're filthy presence anywhere near her. Ill arrange something myself." And with that he sped off towards the Uchiha Corporation building in the city.

It wasn't a particularly hard building to find. It was the second tallest in the whole damn city. Sasuke figured that he would use his commute time to make arrangements for Sakura. He couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in his gut for going to this stupid business meeting. He was sure that since Sakura was back, as in _really_ back, she would want _him_ to be the one to take her home. He couldn't though. His father was one of the most coincidently largest obstacles in their relationship, and he always had been. Sasuke was perfectly content with operating one of the Uchiha branches with his friends. Owning a whole corporation was just out of his league. He didn't want it at all! His brother Itachi, as the first-born son, had all rights to accept or decline, but Sasuke, being the last-born, had no choice. There was no one he could pass this burden down on.

Sasuke shuffled in his pant pockets for his phone and then realized he left it in the duffle bag he was bringing for Sakura. His guilt grew as his fingers brushed her cloths that he was supposed to bring for her, but he eventually found the cold, metal, electronic device and scrolled through his contacts. He could have had Gaara and Sassori come pick her up, but Sasuke didn't want Sassori trying to dig up the painful event that happened, so he opted for Ino, plus Ino lived on campus, which happened to be closer to the hospital than Gaara and Sassori. Ino would also take Sakura out for a 'fun time' as well. He was sure of that. He wouldn't be able to get Sakura until the morning. As much as he didn't want to think of Sakura and Ino going 'clubbing' which is what he knew Ino fully intended to do, he knew that Sakura needed a distraction from all the events.

The phone dialed the blond with a serene dial tone in the background until the girl picked up, _"Hello? Ino speaking."_

"I have a favor to ask."

"_Oh… it's **you**…"_

Sasuke let out a little "tch" before he continued, "It turns out that my father is forcing me to attend a mandatory business meeting in the city. I won't be able to pick up Sakura today from the hospital. Will you sign her discharge papers and take her home with you? Also if you go out anywhere, take Neji or Naruto with you. That's an order."

"_Since when do I take orders from __**you**__? You invective asshole!"_ Ino spat into the phone, her agitation was obvious.

Sasuke pinched the skin between his nose. He didn't have time for this.

"I can't just leave her at the hospital Ino…" he sighed, "And before you go calling me an abandoning jerk, I _do_ have something planned tomorrow. Go pick her up and I'll take her home in the morning."

All he heard was a click on the other line before it went dead. God knew how much he hated talking to that woman, but he didn't have anyone else he could turn to. It's not like he was going to ask Naruto or one of the guys to take her back to their place. It's not that he didn't trust them. Sakura would just kill him if he tried to make arrangements like that for her. Sasuke flipped his phone closed and slid it back into his pocket as he parked his car and walked into the Uchiha office complex preparing himself for the most boring meeting of his life.

* * *

Ino flipped her phone closed fuming mad that a man would dare to speak to her like they owned her. She used to have feelings for that man, but she forgot them long ago. However when she thought of how disappointed Sakura would be when Sasuke didn't come to pick her up, Ino almost didn't have the heart to go, until she thought of how horrible it would be if _no one_ came to pick her up. Ino sighed and put some of her cloths in a bag for Sakura to wear. Swiping the car keys off her coffee table and locking the door behind her, Ino was off to the hospital.

* * *

"We've been expecting you, younger master Uchiha" some employees greeted him as he perused through a closet in his executive office.

He had his own suite in the office building, but he never stayed there because he didn't see the point. He hated the company, why sleep in it? Sasuke had to find a business suit because he had on jeans and a plain black t-shirt since he was planning on going to the hospital to pick Sakura up.

"Does the young master need help with his selection?"

Sasuke had no fathomable measurement for how much he hated being called 'young master', 'master', 'honorable son', and every other name servants called him.

"No." came his agitated reply.

The servants got the gist and bowed before leaving the room and the Uchiha to himself. Sasuke wasn't in the mood to pick out a suit, he just plodded over and sat on the edge of the double king sized bed in the room and put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He was so frustrated. _He_ wanted to be the one to pick Sakura up. Being the source of someone's disappointment was a horrible feeling, and Sasuke knew it all to well. Not just from the times he'd let Sakura down, but from all the times his father was pushing him to do the impossible, and just as expected, he couldn't do it. Sasuke was so out of it that he didn't hear his door slide open and closed. Nor did he feel the presence of someone in the room with him, or walking towards him.

Sasuke jumped as a gentle hand rested on his shoulder. When he looked up he saw none other than his mother standing in front of him.

"I'm sorry that it's come to this. You're father tries his best to do what he thinks is right…" she sighed softly looking at her distressed son.

"Well it's not helpful at all, in fact, it's ruining _everything_…" He seethed trying to hold back tears.

Mikoto could see the guilt eating him up inside and tried to think of something positive, "Well is she ok? Any improvements?"

"She died" he hissed, and as soon as his mother jumped his clarified, "But she came back… and when she finally woke up this morning, two days later, she was her real self again, she remembered everything, except for when she had her amnesia."

Mikoto's hand was over her heart as she said, "Please don't scare me like that…"

Sasuke just stood up and put a hand on his mother's arm before walking past her to the closet. Mikoto shook her head before standing in front of her son and pulling out a suit with a black button up shirt and purple tie. She knew he would look quite dapper in it.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and with that, she left the room. Sasuke always appreciated his mother. She knew exactly what to say. After Sasuke had gotten dressed he still had hints of a foul mood as he strode into the conference room and took a seat next to his father. He hated these things and avoided them like the plague. He didn't know how his father did it.

* * *

Ino pulled into the hospital parking lot and hopped out of her car. She couldn't help but have a somber look on her face as she walked into the hospital. Sakura would be disappointed that she isn't Sasuke. It was only late afternoon, but Ino decided that she was going to take Sakura somewhere fun tonight. She'd heard about a new nightclub on the other side of town from Sharingan that had almost a miniature water park installed outback with "swim-up" bars. She knew that taking Sakura fresh out of the hospital to a night club wasn't the best idea, but she had a clean bill of health, and the best part was according to what Sasuke told her Sakura remembered everything again, including Ino. Unlike the last time Ino saw her, Sakura wasn't going to run away from her. Ino had made it to right outside Sakura's door and took a deep breath and put a happy façade on before she walked into the room. Sakura was sitting up in bed watching TV when Ino walked in. A smile crept its way onto Sakura's face as Ino walked up to Sakura's bedside and sat down.

"Long time no see, pig" Sakura said sticking her tongue out at her best friend.

Ino smirked before retorting, "touché billboard brow."

Both girls chatted it up inside of the hospital room before a nurse brought in Sakura's discharge papers to sign. Ino signed for Sakura's release and the nurse went to verify, and of course Sasuke had left a list of names of those who could escort Sakura out and Ino was one of them so they left them free to go.

Ino pulled some spare cloths out of her bag before saying, "Put these on quick! We need to go shopping before all the stores close!"

Sakura laughed nervously before asking, "why?" already knowing the answer.

Ino winked at her then said, "I'm taking you to a new club across town from Sharingan. They have a miniature water park out back! So we need to get out a dress that's easy to take off and a bikini for underneath it!"

Sakura just huffed as her friend drug her out of the hospital by her wrists.

"_God save us all…"_ she thought mentally in exhaustion.

Ino pulled her friend into a swimwear shop and forced her to buy a skimpy emerald green bikini. The top was skimpy, it only covered the tips of her breast and let the rest hang out. The bottom was fashioned to expose as much ass as humanly possible.

"_oh kami… he's going to __**kill**__ me!"_ Sakura mentally scolded herself while Ino purchased their swimsuits. Ino's was purple and fashioned the same as Sakura's.

Their next destination was party dress shopping, however Ino didn't make Sakura buy and extremely revealing dress. She bought her a simple black party dress with a bow to the top right of the dress and it ended mid thigh. Ino bought herself a purple halter dress that was a little too short for Sakura's taste, but she just waved her hand saying she had no opinion. Ino shrugged and bought the dresses and both girls changed in the car before heading to the club.

When they pulled into the parking lot it was full. Apparently a lot of people had heard of the club "Orochi". Sakura almost got shivers as they walked up to the gate and a bouncer named Jirobo scrutinized their wardrobe thoroughly before granting them entry into the place. After that when they walked in it was rather exciting.

(Play Narcissistic Cannibal by Korn/Skrillex)

The dance floor was packed with sober and wasted people alike. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, but what caught Sakura's eye was when they walked outside there was a floating dance floor in the middle of… a pool? It was the larges pool she'd seen in her life, but it was only 3 to 4 feet deep. With a raft that was large enough to hold 200 people on it without sinking. There were also cages you could climb into hovering over the pool if you got out and walked up a stair case. Sakura thought that sounded fun, and she assumed that it would allow her to dance without anyone touching her. Ino laughed as her friend quickly found a clothing locker and put her dress inside and ran quickly to a cage.

"Mind if I join?" Ino asked running up behind Sakura.

Sakura laughed and said, " 'course not!"

Both girls went wild in the cage either mirroring each other or dirty dancing back to back. Little did _they _know two kinds of people were watching them. The owner of the club from his balcony, and then some of the boys from Sharingan were in the pool crowd as well. Shikamaru saw them first and then had to look away to hide his red face before tapping on Naruto's shoulder and pointing up above them.

The boy was flustered and his first thought was _"does teme know about this? He's going to shit bricks..."_

Naruto bolted out of the pool and ran to his clothing locker to find his phone. Luckily he was able to get close to the cage. The two girls were so out of it that they didn't notice him snapping a picture of them. Naruto sent it to Sasuke knowing that his friend was going to blow his top, but what was he to do? Naruto knew that Sasuke had a right to know that his fiancée was 90% naked dancing in a cage. His thumb was hovering over the send button with slight hesitation before going through with sending his friend the picture with a slight description at the bottom.

As soon as he was about to put the phone back in his pocket he felt a raving mad presence stalking towards him and swiping his phone. Ino scanned through it and found the most recently sent text message and shrieked.

"Why the hell would you do this Naruto? We're just having fun!" She screamed stamping her foot at him.

Both of them were now below the cage that the pinkette was still dancing in without her companion, but none-the-less she couldn't hear their conversation.

Naruto scowled and took his phone back and growled, "I think my best friend has goddamn right to know that his fiancée is dancing practically naked in public at a night club in a cage. For a promised woman, that's going a bit far."

Ino just huffed. Naruto was right, but like hell that she would admit it!

"Listen here" she hissed as she grabbed his chin and drug him down eye level with her, "You cover our asses if Sasuke gets here. I'm watching out for her. Nothing bad will happen, I promise. He told me to have you with us anyway, so you've made my job easier."

Naruto crossed his arms scowling before asking, "And what if I don't? I think that someone's fiancée dancing practically naked in a cage is pretty bad."

Ino rolled her eyes then muttered, "I'll make sure no one harms her, touches her, blah. Blah. Blah…"

Naruto wasn't convinced. He shook his head at her and a few moments of intense silence was exchanged between the two.

Naruto finally broke it by asking, "And if some strong will man comes a long, what makes you think that **you** can protect her?"

Ino saw the flaw in her plan from the start but she wasn't about to waste anymore time talking to Naruto, she had a cage to dance in, "Look. I don't' care, baby sit us for god's sake! Just don't ruin our evening!"

Naruto rolled his eyes before sitting on the poolside with his feet in the water.

* * *

I decided I'm not going to end this story just yet… I think I could work a few more entertaining plot twists in before I end it. Hope you don't mind the false alarm there's just a lot of things I have to work out… :#

LOVE YOU ALL! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! ^(^0^)^


	20. Sound of Madness

**Disclaimer: **I DO NOT own Naruto.

Well I'm happy and sad. Happy cause my grades are fantastic right now, but sad because I want all A's and I only have ONE B right now! ARGGG! Also I might not update this for severals months, not even maybe until summer. Mostly because I don't know how I want to end this yet, and also because I DO know how I want to end my other story I have going right now. Finishing that will lighten my load as an author :)  
I want to wish you all the best of luck for the rest of this school year! I will update when I can. I hope you enjoy what entertainment I've provided for you here ^_^  
PLEASE REMEMBER TO READ AND REVIEW!

* * *

"And as you can see the stock for-"

**VVvvvVV! VVvvvvVV! VVvvvVV!**

Sasuke's phone went off in his pocket un-noticed so he took the opportunity to flip it open while drinking down some water for his dry throat but immediately spewed it back out. Thankfully the boardroom tables were massive enough to the point where he didn't get any water on anyone else, but everyone's attention was now on him. Sasuke quickly concealed his phone and started pounding on his chest coughing.

"I swallow my water wrong, I apologize" he said casually.

Everyone in the room shrugged, except for Fugaku who kept a glare locked on his son for a solid few minutes. As the presentation continued Sasuke took his phone back out and couldn't look at it for long. He had a mixed emotion of arousal and anger in his system.

"_Ino went a little __**too**__ far this time"_ he thought silently to himself as he read the caption _"Dude are you for real? What am I supposed to do!"_

Sasuke stealthily typed away on his phone and quickly flipped it shut and put it in his pocket. Then he pinched the skin in between his eyes. That's most revealing thing he'd ever seen her in. He like it, but not when he knew other people could see her like that.

"_Did Ino already get her drunk? Is Ino drunk to? Oh my god I have to get out of here…."_

Sasuke felt bad for making Naruto the babysitter. The fact that Naruto found them like that, and sent it to him, made Sasuke believe that Naruto was going to watch them like a hawk. Naruto wasn't soft about Ino like Kiba and Shikamaru were, bit Naruto considered Sakura his sister as far as he was concerned. There's no way he'd let something bad happen to her. It's just that something was itching in the back of Sasuke's mind. That club was definitely not Sharingan.

* * *

After about half an hour of cage dancing the girls giggled and jumped onto the floating dance floor. The thing was packed with people wet and dry, drunk and sober. Sakura and Ino were towards the edge and seemed to have found dance partners. Ino was feeling flirtatious, but Sakura was disgusted with all of them. This was _her_ night with her friend. Any guy that came near her was warned. Naruto was watching them and couldn't help but smirk when one guy got to close and was no just pushed, but _thrown_ ten feet into the water. She kicked the next one and elbowed the one after that in the ribs. Men were so dumb as far as Sakura was concerned. Naruto was still on the side of the pool when his phone went off again. Sasuke had answered.

_Where the hell are you? And what the hell are they **thinking**! I know you can't take Sakura home with you, especially if she's drunk. I'll be there the second I can find a way to set foot out of this meeting. Tell me where this thing is._

Naruto huffed. Ino was going to kill him, but Sakura was his first priority as he typed into the keypad his response to his friend who was probably stark mad.

* * *

"Excuse me" Sasuke whispered to his father, "There's an emergency, I have to go. I already signed all the papers I need to for the first transaction, so do I really need to stay here for the rest of this?"

Fugaku scowled he smelled something fishy, but there was nothing he could pin on Sasuke, yet. "I suppose not." He answered.

Sasuke quietly took his leave from room and bolted down the hallway. He reached into his pocket to check his phone and Naruto had answered his message.

_It's a place called Orochi. It's on the other side of town from Sharingan. You might want to hurry dude, things are getting crazy and I don't want to have to step in and make Sakura realize I'm here. Ino already saw me taking the picture and chewed me out for sending it to you._

Sasuke could only send a short message before pulling out of the parking lot and laying rubber in his wake as he sped off down the road.

* * *

Sakura and Ino had been shoved off the dance floor and into the pool, so they decided to end their fun in that area of the pool and swim over to the bar. The bar had neon signs in colors and was all lit up as you swam to it. Sakura thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

"First drink's on the house" were the words out of the waitor's mouth when the two girls sat on the underwater barstools with the waists in the water.

Sakura and Ino giggled as they each placed and order.

"Carolina Dream please!" Sakura chirped.

"low-cal Cosmopolitan for me" Ino ordered.

The man smiled at them both as he mixed their drinks one by one then went to the other side of the bar to take the other occupants' orders

"Why low-cal? Live a litte!" Sakura chastised the over cautious blond.

"Sweetheart," Ino said superciliously, "I plan on getting wasted, and that's going to take several drinks. I'm not going to get fat in the process."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Sure, alcohol had lots of calories, but Sakura and Ino didn't hardly ever drink anyway. The hospital food Sakura was given was nasty, so she needed something to wash it out of her system, by putting something even more potent in it.

Sakura stirred the drink with her pink straw and started have a somber face and zoned off to who know's where. Ino didn't notice because she was too busy facing the pool behind them scouting for men who could satisfy her apatite.

"Everything ok?" The bartender asked in a happy tone.

Sakura jumped when she realized he was leaning forward with his chin resting on his hands about two inches from her face. She wiped the sweat from her brow and laughed while her face turned beet red.

"She fine" Ino smiled while draping an arm over her friend's shoulders, "Don't let _him_ ruin your evening…" she whispered in Sakura's ear.

"Anything else for you two gorgeous lady's?" he asked while cleaning a glass and hanging it back up on the rack.

Ino smirked as she slyly said, "Actually, there is."

"Oh gosh" the bar tender mocked, "Someone's sounding adventurous."

Ino giggled before she said, "two Back 7s for each of us please, my treat."

Sakura jumped in her seat, "Ino are you crazy! I don't need to get flat out hammered before the night even gets _started_!"

"So you ladies plan on staying here a while?" he asked placing the said beverages in front of them.

"Something like that" Ino said nervously.

Ino held up the first shot glass of the hard mixed liquor as she said, "Here's to a girls' night of celebration on your recovery!"

Sakura and Ino clinked the glasses in a toast before knocking it back and slamming the shot glasses on the table. The bar tender chuckled to himself and took the empty glasses to put them in the sink to be washed.

Ino picked up the next round and said, "Here's to having as much fun as possible before your fiancée crashes the party!"

Ino quickly clinked the glass and knocked hers back while Sakura raised a quizzical brow and held her glass up in confusion of the last statement.

"Drink!" Ino slurred as her cheeks turned pink.

Sakura shook her head then for the first time in her life she said, "Fuck it" and swigged back the shot and she too was feeling a little tipsy. Ino left the money and tip on the counter as the bar tender waved to them.

"Be careful!" he shouted at them, "Just what this club needs" he sighed, "More drunk girls in a pool…"

Of course alcohol and swimming was dangerous, but that's why lifeguards were stationed everywhere and deepest part of the pool was 4 feet. Sakura and Ino had fun splashing around until Ino spotted Kiba and Shikamaru and swam off toward "dog-boy's" direction. Sakura was disoriented and felt like getting out and decided not to bother telling her blond friend who obviously rushed to 'greet' someone without her. She dried off with a complimentary towel and put her black skimpy dress back on and went inside.

* * *

Ino swam up to the boys who only had had one drink, so they were still relatively sober. Each one of them could tell Ino was wasted. What him freak out was when he realized the pinkette was no where around her. He was supposed to be watching them, but he last saw them at the bar and thought they were fine. He should've checked to make sure they weren't smashed before he could breath a sigh of relief.

Naruto frowned at Ino before asking harshly, "Where's Sakura-chan? She was supposed to be with you. You were supposed to make sure nothing happened to her! Remember?"

Ino just put one finger on her lip and looked up, a typical drunk 'I'm thinking to hard' pose.

"I dunno…" she replied care-free and innocent.

"_Fuck…_" Naruto seethed under his breath as he frantically looked around the pool. She had to be around here somewhere.

Naruto frantically spent no time in getting out of the pool and looking for the nearest vantage point, which happened to be one of the cages. It was vacant so he occupied it and did a quick scan of the outdoor water recreation area. There wasn't a single strand of pink hair in sight. That's when Naruto really lost it.

"_teme's going to fucking **kill** me!"_

Naruto quickly ran to his clothing locker and put his black cargo pants with chains on and his orange shirt, not bothering to dry off and the real test began. The inside of the club was about 3 times as big as the water area outside. There were several lounge rooms, four dance floors, and a bar at each of them. Sakura could be _anywhere_. Not to mention drunks tended to wander to strange areas like places where only employees are permitted. Naruto just hoped that no one was trying to 'pick her up' she was okay on the floating dance floor. She was agitated, but sober. Now she was drunk which means she had the shortest fuse possible. Naruto knew he ha to hurry and find her as soon as humanly possible, before Sasuke did.

* * *

Sakura wasn't about to let any man ruin _her_ night. Her deranged and drunk mind assumed that Ino was going to join her later, but she could honestly care less. The bass of the music made her hips swing but she was to trashed to hear the lyrics of the song. However any man that came within less than a foot of her was promptly dealt with either a knee to the crotch or her heels digging into their toes. When she started getting irritated later on she elbowed a poor guy in the gut for trying to get too close to her.

(Play Sound of Madness by Shinedown)

Sakura was on one of the several dance floors. It was five times the size of Sharingan. Sakura banged her hips to the heavy drum of the song and ran her hand through her hair wildly since it had dried by that time. Many of the men had their mouth gaping at her. She was wild. By that point no man had dared to dance with her, yet. One man managed to stealth his way up to her, and asked to buy her a drink. Sakura was feeling thirsty, and her buzz was wearing off and she needed something.

"Thanks" she said calmly as she sat at the bar.

The silver haired man knew how to play his cards and simply said, "I'm not going to patronize you, but I wanted to give you some form of flattery that wouldn't annoy you. You're quite a good dancer."

"Thanks" she said again, monatinously.

After Sakura ordered her apple-tini the man paid and left. Sakura was glad to have something to wet her whistle, but now came even more annoying obstacles. Men who realized she had stopped dancing and tried to approach her with _pick up lines_. She cringed. She had a man way finer than _any_ of them. She was _not_ interested _at all_.

"So how do you like your eggs in the morning?" One cocky man asked as he sat in the barstool next to her like he was God's gift to women.

Sakura turned her head to look at him scowling before harshly stating, "unfertilized."

All the guy's buddies in the corner who'd heard the conversation were trying to choke back their laughter. Little did she know someone was laughing in the shadows as well, two people actually. One was on her side, and one dangerously interested in her. Sakura had no idea how many people's eyes she'd caught. Man after man approached her and each one had a nasty turn down.

The next contestant came up behind her and spoke in her ear, "You're body's like a temple."

Sakura remained completely stationary she didn't flinch or shutter from the hot breath on her neck she simply said, "too bad there are no services today" before backhanding the man.

She got more and more irritated with each one.

"Is this seat open?"

"This one will be too if you sit down there." She growled dangerously.

All of them were inferior, as far as she was concerned.

"Hey baby what's your sign?" one 'suave' guy asked as he leaned over to look at her face.

"Stop."

More guys laughed. It almost became a contest.

"I'd die for you" another suiter said in a sultry tone.

"Really?" she asked sarcastically, "Go prove it then."

Each guy just huffed and walked away to try their charm on another girl.

"So what are you doing later tonight?"

"Not. You." She stated each word with emphasis and clarity to get her point across.

Secretly someone watching her was thinking _"That'sss caussse you'll be going __**me**__ tonight."_

Sakura got up after finishing her drink to see yet another contestant standing in front of her and said the most cliché line of them all, "If I could rearrange the alphabet I'd put U and I together."

Sakura just frowned at him and seethed, "Well if I could rearrange the Alphabet I would put F and U together!" and she shoved past him back to the dance floor.

She was done letting these guys ruin her night of fun. She wouldn't have it.

"Did you do it?" asked a slithery voice to a man walking past him in spectacles, a grey haired man.

He smirked before answering, "Of course, Orochimaru-sama."

"Sssssplendid…"

Sakura kept dancing to the music until finally she felt another contestant try and dance with her, or walk up behind her anyway. She raised a fist from behind in an attempt to hit him without even turning around but instead the man grabbed her wrist and spun her around.

"Sasuke!" she gasped while slurring her speach.

Sasuke cringed and scowled at the rancid smell of hard liquor on her breath before saying, "I've seen enough. It's time to go home."

* * *

LOVE YOU ALL PLEASE REVIEW! MUAH! XOXOXOXOXO


	21. Third Time's The Charm

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey! LONG TIME NO WRITE HUH? Anyways, I'm really sorry about that I've had a ton of stuff going on between summer school assignments and trying to take a break from my boyfriend without him thinking I'm breaking up with him. Just need space for a while, ya know? When someone is infatuated with you it wears you down and you need to recoup. I also went white water rafting this past weekend and had to be rescued from the middle of a class 3 rapid because I was about to be sucked into a nasty undercurrent and our river-guide's recue rope messed up and was pulled of his hand. Almost got sucked under the raft. I'm really happy that school is almost here though. I'll have a legitimate excuse to isolate myself. I don't know why but I've just grown tired of people sometimes. I enjoy hugs but not constantly being touched, and I like being alone as weird as that is. I feel like no on is looking down on me. I don't really like talking to people cause whenever I open my mouth I know everyone else is just thinking something condescending about me.

Anyways. My problems are mind and I hope this story alleviates some of yours :)

Also to clear up some misconceptions (I re-read the story from start to the last chapter in order to write more clearly with a purpose), Sakura's father never died. I really only meant it to be her mother. It's completely my bad and I hope I didn't confuse some of you.

I also hope you don't mind, but I think I'm going to go on hiatus for a while. I really can't focus on two stories and as soon as I finish Ashiteru I'll epically wrap up this one with amazing speed cause it will be my only active story. Then as an author you're going to hear complete silence for a while because I'm going to be working on under wraps stories. Writing them completely ahead of time will allow the editing of story gaps, poor grammar, and other small details that make a good read even greater. I hope you all understand where I'm coming from :3

* * *

"Sasuke!" she shouted while tripping over her heels as he led her towards the exit of the club. "Stop it!"

Sasuke let go of her wrists as he snapped around to glare at her hissing, "Don't _ever_ come somewhere like this without telling me! You know how I found out? Naruto sent me _this_!"

Sakura looked at his phone screen to see a picture of Ino and her in a cage dancing in their skimpy swimsuits.

"I can explain!" She shouted, "We just wanted to have a night of fun!"

"_Engaged_ and _married_ women don't go out late at night to sketchy clubs to get wasted and be hit on by other men. Nothing like that is going to fly with me. I don't mind you going out and having fun, but you're just being reckless right now."

Sakura scowled as he grabbed her wrist again and led her out of the club to the car. He put her in the passenger seat and closed the door then put his hand on the driver seat handle and took a deep breath before he got in on his side of the car. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he gripped the leather steering wheel leaving an indentation of his fingers in the process.

"I'm sorry…" Sakura whimpered from the passenger seat clutching her purse with tears dripped down her cheeks.

"Think next time" Sasuke said indifferently.

* * *

After throwing his keys on the entryway table Sasuke looked over and saw what time it was. It was just short of 5am and he felt completely spent. He went back out to the car to get Sakura and piggybacked her into the house. The maids all looked and shook their heads. They weren't necessarily judging but the expressing their sympathy for Sasuke and what he had to put up with, especially with the wedding fast approaching. Sasuke set her down on the bed then went down to the kitchen to get a mixing bowl out of the cupboard and brought it up to put on the floor on her side of the bed.

"You have to puke? Then puke in this, understand?" He asked before loosening his tie and hanging up his suit jacket and pants. He went into the bathroom to take a shower and almost closed the door behind him except for an unsettling groan coming from the pinkette.

"What?" He asked, "You want a shower too?"

She just slightly made out a nodding gesture. Sasuke walked around the bed to pick her up and carry her into the bathroom and locked the door behind them. It had been a long night and Sasuke didn't particularly care for romance at this point. His entire goal was to clean Sakura up and put her to bed and deal with whatever kind of atrocious hangover she was going to have tomorrow. He took off her strapless dress and skimpy swimsuit and set her down in the bathtub while he disrobed himself. He then wrapped her arms around his neck and helped her to stand up and turned the water on closing the shower curtains. There was plenty of space in the shower and even a plastic stool to sit but he had to clean Sakura first. He took a luffa with some soap and washed her body down, her hair was of little concern to him since he didn't know what she put in it anyway. After he was finished he set her down on the stool and proceeded to wash himself but stopped mid way when he heard a nasty blorch and felt his feet covered in ooze. He sighed and ignored it for a moment but then he saw Sakura doubled over on the floor of the shower no longer in the stool.

"What's wrong?" He asked before crouching down to help her sit in the stool again.

"No!" She almost shouted half conscious as she wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck and tried to stand up with him.

"Suit yourself" Sasuke said already over the whole situation.

He wanted nothing more than to get under the covers and pretend he didn't exist and that the beautiful feeling of slumber wouldn't ever go away. He was consumed with how good it would feel to close his eyes that he almost didn't notice when Sakura had thrown up on his back where she was holding onto him. Sasuke let out and irritated grunt and handed Sakura a washcloth.

"Wash it off" he told her frustratedly.

Sakura nodded somberly as she took the sponge and slowly wiped and washed all the contents of her stomach from his back. After she was done she dropped the sponge and unconsciously slid from Sasuke loosing her grip and falling to the tile floor of the shower. Sasuke at that point quickly scooped her up in one arm trying to get her to sit up.

He frantically shook her asking, "Seriously, what's wrong with you? Did you really overdo it? Do I need to take you to the hospital to have your stomach pumped?"

Sakura shook her head as she groped the air without opening her eyes to try and find where Sasuke's face was. He grabbed hold of one of her wandering hands and put it on his cheek then proceeded to turn the shower water off and pick her up princess style to set her on the metal chair by the counter of the bathroom. He went to the linen closet to get them towels and helped her wrap her arms around his neck against as he dried her off. He made sure to carefully set her in the seat so as not to fall off onto the bathroom floor. He then wrapped the towel around his waist, uncaring that he was still dripping wet and carried Sakura into the bedroom. The pinkette looked as if she were hallucinating.

"Did you do drugs while you were there?" He asked skeptically.

As much as he would have loved that to be a rhetorical question he was sadly being serious. Sakura might not have done it on her own volition, but it's not hard to slip something into someone's drink when you're in a crowded place full of sketchy people.

"Stay here" he told her as he put the covers over her because she was shivering, "I'm going to call a doctor."

Sasuke stepped out onto the balcony of their room grabbing his cell phone on his way out. Scrolling through the contacts he finally came across Tsunade's number, well her pager. As soon as he buzzed it the annoyed doctor called him back in a matter of minutes.

"What is it?" She asked impatiently.

She was the go-to doctor for the Uchiha's and their several medical and mental problems. She was always on the other end of a phone line if they needed her and she was handsomely paid to do so.

Sasuke took a deep breath before saying, "Something's wrong with Sakura."

"Am I going to have to come down there or are you going to tell me what's going on? Because I'm in the middle of the night shift and I can't come dally down there right now."

"Fine. I picked her up from a club a while ago. She just got out of the hospital and a traumatic experience. Her friend was only trying to help her have a good time, but things got out of hand. I found her completely drunk, but I didn't expect much else. She's been completely looney and the vomiting is normal but she keeps doubling over in pain and shivering."

There was silence on the other end of the line before Tsunade said, "Bring her now."

* * *

Sasuke walked into the hospital with his hair still wet only wearing jeans and a hoodie half unzipped because he didn't bother to find a shirt. The pinkette was in his arms in shorts and a t-shirt. He spent more time dressing her than himself. He walked through the emergency room double doors and Tsunade was coming through the double doors to greet him.

"I wouldn't ordinarily allow this but you can stay with her since we give you people special treatment. It'll serve a lesson to you what will happen if you do the same thing as her."

Sakura was put on a stretcher and taken back to one of the more lavished patient rooms full of equipment. Sasuke sat in a chair next to the hospital bed and watched the pinkette toss and turn violently. He assumed he made the right choice calling a doctor. While it might not be life-threatening right now, it could've been a serious problem the next morning.

"I would give her a breathalyzer test but since you showered her some of it was bound to wash out of her mouth. I'll have to take some blood and analyze it. I'll let you know what happens then."

Sasuke walked over to a tray with a computer and slipped the blood into the machine and began furiously typing on the keyboard. She soon spun out and walked over to a cabinet on the other side of the room and pressed a buzzer next to the door saying "send me two assistants." Then began to put a black substance into a cup and loaded several shots with what he assumed was some sort of serum.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked scowling.

"Ipecac syrup. You never want to have this stuff."

Sasuke decided not to ask any more questions as two assistants came in and hooked Sakura up to an IV and other monitoring devices and they saw what Tsunade was preparing so they assumed everything else. They put a tub down her nose and took out a pump. At that point Sasuke knew he was right, they were going to pump her stomach. He didn't know what the rest of the stuff was for though. As far as he was concerned he would let them do anything to get Sakura to stop convulsing and whimpering.

"Stabilize her! She's about to go into anaphylactic shock! Make sure her trachea stays open!" Tsunade was shouting at her assistants as she brought the tray over to her Sakura was.

She first made the assistants hold Sakura down completely before she administered the syrup and then Sakura began violently throwing up into the stomach pump several times before they continued. They inserted a saline solution into the tracheal tube down the stomach and soon contents of her stomach were being emptied further through the tube inserted through her nose. Eventually Tsunade looked over to Sasuke and nodded that Sakura was in the clear then sat next to him while the assistants cleaned up the nasty mess and organized the workstations.

"Do you know what happened?" Tsunade asked a little grimly.

"I only saw her for a short amount of time from afar before I stepped in and decided it was enough." Sasuke replied looking strait at the doctor.

Tsunade swiped her bangs out of her eyes and looked at the pinkette as she said, "This girl here had an alcohol blood level of well over .3o%. Which could have put her in a coma if she had completely passed out."

Sasuke was about to cut in with a bitter comment about Ino but Tsunade cut in and said, "There's more."

Giving a face of somewhat worry and half what he was expecting Sasuke sat up and looked at Tsunade as she continued, "She also took a large amount of Rohypnol into her system and mixed with the alcohol she wouldn't have woken up the next morning."

"Goddamnit!" Sasuke hissed right as Tsunade finished, "Can she go a week without almost dying? I'm being serious right now."

Tsunade raised a brow and said, "Are you going to explain it to me?"

Sasuke shook his head before replying, "You should just go look up her file. It'll tell you as a doctor everything you need to know and show you everything that isn't physically possible."

Tsunade shrugged then said, "I'll bring the discharge papers first thing tomorrow morning so she can leave. She's already taken in so many sedatives into her system I doubt she'll wake up for at least 12 hours or more. Go get dressed and take care of anything else you need to and come back. It doesn't make a difference to her right now if you're here."

Sasuke scowled at her and it wasn't a matter of her not caring it was a matter of him being confortable leaving her here all by herself and waking up alone if he isn't back in time, but if Tsunade gave him at least 12 hours then he supposed that everything would be ok if he took care of a few things but what he was least happy about was a phone call he received when he shut the door of his car. He let his Bluetooth answer it while he was driving hands free and his father's voice echo through the speakers.

"Sasuke? I need you to tell me the truth"

Sasuke was making an annoyed face but controlled his tone as he asked, "Yes?"

Fugaku asked, "What happened to Sakura last night. She's the only person who would make you get up and fly out of the conference room. I've never seen you move that swiftly before."

Sasuke wiped a hand over his face before answering, "Naruto found her at our competitor's night club. She was supposed to having fun with Ino to get her mind off of what had happened to her recently but it turned into a disaster and Naruto was babysitting them so I came to take Sakura since she's my responsibility. I didn't want anything to happen to her while I wasn't there."

Fugaku grunted, "Fine."

He was secretly proud of his son for taking action and responsibility to prevent disaster from striking. And Sasuke didn't even know how close Sakura had come to certain destruction. Fugaku knew the owner of Orochi and just how dirty he played.

"Don't let her out of your sight." Were the words that escaped Fugaku's mouth before a silence set in between the two men.

Sasuke scratched the back of his head pulling into the driveway of his house as he asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"The man who owns that night club knows full well of your engagement to the pink haired Sakura. The whole corporate world does. You don't want to put her in a tangle between our companies' rivalry." Fugaku said rather somberly

Sasuke huffed. It was going to be hard, having to keep constant surveillance on her. If Orochimaru was 1/10th as wealthy as the Uchiha's then there's no doubt he'd have limitless recourses up his sleeve to kidnap her. However Sasuke had even more recourses to counter attack the problem. He wasn't going to make a preemptive strike, but he wasn't going to sit idly by while his fiancée is drugged and put in a stupor for their advantage.

Sasuke got off the phone with his father then proceeded to walk into the house and tidy up a few things. He cleaned the barf bucket out of the bathroom and the maids cleaned out any remnants in the shower he might've missed as well as replacing the sheets on his bed that was long over due. Sasuke took out his laptop to check his bills and pay all of his utilities and other services. As soon as he was finished he looked up a biography on Orochimaru. He had apparently dug tooth and nail from the bottom to get to where he is today, and Sasuke didn't like that one bit. People who were born into aristocracies were petty and usually spoiled. But those who clawed their way up were deceptive, double-crossing, and scum. They used the dirtiest tricks in the book to get what they wanted. As soon as Sasuke had finished getting dressed in new jeans and a shirt as well as drinking a cup of coffee he decided that he would grab Sakura a fresh pair of cloths before heading off to the hospital. Sasuke took his phone out while sitting at the kitchen table to take the liberty of checking his e-mails. He noticed that there was one from his dad calling for an emergency meeting. Apparently a few papers that Sasuke had signed had been lost and needed to be re-decided and signed as a part of the business' transaction of inheritance to him. The meeting was about 3 hours from then and he decided that he would have to take Sakura with him, hangover and all. He just hoped he wouldn't have to piggyback her into the building. That would be embarrassing for him and the company. There were many social graces and manners one had to follow in an upper-class society and piggybacking your hung-over fiancé into a business meeting was not one of them. However, he was certain that his father wouldn't mind if she stayed in his executive office and slept through the whole thing. That seemed like the only option right at that moment that he had anyway. He could easily take her home right as soon as the meeting was over. He didn't want anyone else taking her home from the hospital. He was on edge from her past three hospital visits and he feared that three chances was all she had.

* * *

Sasuke walked into the hospital building to see a Sakura laying in a recovery room fast asleep still. He was glad she hadn't woken up yet. He signed her release papers on the clipboard hanging on the end of her hospital bed and carried her to the nearest unisex bathroom so he could dress her. He put her old close in the duffle bag he was carrying before carrying her out of the hospital. After putting her in the passenger seat of the car Sasuke sped off toward the Uchiha corporate building as fast as he could. Sakura still wasn't awake so he'd have to carry her inside but he could easily just say she still wasn't herself from the traumatic event that had happened to her. It had been all over the newspapers, "The girl who died in the graveyard and came back." They were never told of the fireflies or other supernatural events, but her name was still in most of the papers and the front headline story in a few. Sasuke wasn't happy about the publicity, but at least the newspapers hopefully wouldn't hear about her nightclub mishap.

Sasuke carried her into his office and set her on the bed off to the side and left a nightlight on for her by turning a desk lamp on before turning the lights out and closing the blinds in the room. He pulled the covers over her body and hoped shed stay like that for a while. He set his duffle bag by the nightstand and picked a suit to wear out of his closet. He was in a rush she he had to ask his female servants if it matched and they nodded. Sasuke took a few file folders off his desk and walked down the hallway a bit.

* * *

"So glad you all could make it!" Fugaku spoke enthusiastically as he rose from his seat.

Sasuke was still sitting to his right and Itachi to his left. The two boys were less than ecstatic to be there, but only Itachi had the choice. Since it was dealing with the inheritance of the company he didn't have to be there for it. A few people that were major shareholders were giving Sasuke several contracts and papers to sign and he had to read through all of them before he was able to read. His father said only a few papers had been lost, but it almost seemed as if only a few of them were found and he was having to do 95% of the paperwork he'd already signed. He of course had to read them over because he was signing them and a few of the men might've been dishonest and slipped something under the rug that he'd have to read to find. Sasuke couldn't help but continuously stare up at the clock hoping and praying Sakura wasn't going to wake up and cause a commotion.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that. I really tried my hardest to make it a solid length without my commentaries, but I hope you will read and review it! I get the mails with the reviews on my phone so I see them on the go and it warms my heart with all the positive feedback and constructive criticism I receive. I really do love hearing from you guys!


	22. Ignorance Is No Defense

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey! Sorry it's been a few weeks! This has been just sittin' here on my computer and I was updating my other story so I was like "how much of _this_ do I have pre-written?" I only have this chapter and half of the next one. I'm literally making this shit up as I go, but as soon as I finish this story (since the other one only has one chapter yet to be released, the finale), I'm going to only completely pre-write stories. It's a lot less stressful and will definitely make everyone happy. I have a bunch of scattered ideas in folders write now and only one or two stories with some serious mileage to them as it is. I hope you guys like my future works. I don't know if I will contribute anything further to the M rated community, but I have plenty of steamy situational romance. I might even write something for Fairy Tail. I've been watching that shit this whole weekend and made it to episode 48! NO LIFE! T^T FOREVER ALONE!

Anyways, I'm going to Anime Weekend Atlanta with some friends this September and they want me to cosplay as Juvia. Already bought the whole shindig, freaking EXPENSIVE! I had a friend help me cover it, because I always pay people back. It's just my personal policy. Anyways, I hope you guys are enjoying what I have thus far and I'm sorry if my updates are not frequent enough! AP Government is KILLER! I might not have updated at all if it weren't for this being pre-written and ready to release… o.o

If you don't hear from me in a month then I've probably committed suicide from having to do all this work. HAPPY ALMOST MONDAY!

* * *

Sakura woke up panicked. She was in someone's bed, and she didn't know whose. She was scared to death that she'd done something horrible with a man who wasn't Sasuke last night. She was almost too afraid to move. The only thing that motivated her to move was a vibrating that she knew was her cellphone. She groped around in the dark and turned on a lamp to find the bag and ripped through its contents until she found her pink flip phone. She opened it and accepted the invitation for a video chat with Ino.

"Ino what happened last ni-" Sakura cut herself off at the live image on her cellphone screen.

She was completely speechless and let a few tears roll down her cheeks as she helplessly stared at her cellphone listening to voices in the background harass the blond and treat her horribly.

* * *

Sasuke got out of his conference and felt uneasy as he reached for the doorknob. None of his servants had alerted him on his way down that the pinkette was awake, had she woken up yet? He opened the door and saw her in the spotlight of the lamp on her knees with her hands on the sides of her head shaking as she looked at her cell phone screen.

"Sakura!" he violently whispered as he rushed over to the girl and kneeled on the floor next to her.

He snapped his fingers in front of her face a few times and then realized that he needed to see what had made her so mentally unstable. He looked at the cellphone screen to see Ino tied and gagged on her live webcam stream on her phone being violently harassed by who he assumed was Orochimaru and his assistant.

"Oh good" Orochimaru spoke into the webcam, "You're here now."

Sasuke scowled as he hissed, "What the hell do you want? Let her go. You won't be able to pull this off. There are too many people who want your head on a platter."

"Including yourself?" He teased.

"For my own reasons, yes."

"And what reasons might they be?"

"You spiked my fiancée's drink with roofies. Which in my book is attempted rape."

The man let out a creepy laugh on the other end of the phone as he said, "We're going to make a deal here. You're going to give me 15 million dollars, and I'm going to give you this upper class whore back. Ok?"

Sasuke was careful not to crush Sakura's phone in the palm of his hand as he angrily spat, "Never" and slammed the phone shut picking Sakura up off the floor.

Within a few minutes her phone went off with a text message and Sasuke flipped the lid of Sakura's phone to see a message from what he assumed to be Orochimaru's number.

_You're lucky we didn't get __**her**__  
too. You might not be as_

_fortunate next time. If you_

_refuse to cooperate with us._

_-XOXOXO_

"What the fuck?" Sasuke said out loud after reading the message, as he packed the pinkette into his car.

This guy was a real creep what kind of man sends another man messages with 'hugs and kisses' at the bottom? He had to be a psychopath in the first degree to be confortable doing that. Sasuke looked over at Sakura who was in a fetal position in the passenger seat crying her eyes out.

"What happened last night?" she sobbed into her knees.

Sasuke scowled as he started the car and explained, "You and Ino went to 'party hardy,' and essentially you became shitfaced, cage danced half naked, had your drink spiked with roofies, and right before someone came to take you to a back room where you would have most likely been raped and ended up like Ino, I took you home. You then proceeded to convulse violently and puke everywhere and double over so I took you to the hospital where you had your stomach pumped and completely flushed. You had OD on roofies and had a blood alcohol of over .3%. I took you from the hospital early that morning to my office because I had a meeting and I figured you could sleep in the bed there. Now here we are."

Sakura sobbed even harder, "Why didn't you bring Ino with us?"

"She wasn't with you when I found you, and I was under the impression that the other boys were keeping an eye on her."

"Naruto!" She screeched, "You idiot!"

"Don't take it out on him, she shouldn't have been that reckless with no back up or designated babysitter. You would've wound up the same way if Naruto hadn't watched you like a hawk on his own volition, so I hope you understand why I tell you not to do these things."

"Can't we just give them the 15 million dollars?!" She shouted as they both got out of the car and walked into the house.

Sasuke snapped and turned around causing her to bump right into his face as he hissed, "Her recklessness shouldn't be my financial problem! While I care about how this affects you 15 million dollars would run the nightclub for an entire year or more. I can't simply cough up that kind of money like the dust off my shoulder. But I will try to figure something out."

Sakura stood there speechless with watery eyes. She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't giving up hope that Ino was going to get help. Sakura's mind flashed with all the horrible things that could be happening to Ino this very minute, but was sidetracked when all of a sudden an FBI agent was in their house with technical equipment. Sasuke handed him Sakura's phone and the man went through the call logs in html, unlocked the restricted code, and traced the call back to a warehouse near Orochi. Sakura was happy that they'd found the location, but it wasn't over yet.

"Go get some sleep" Sasuke said to her, "You still looked tired."

Sakura had just woken up, but she couldn't deny that more sleep sounded wonderful right about now since she'd practically cried her eyes out.

Sasuke came in a few moments later and crawled into bed next to her.

"Hey…" he whispered seeing if she was still awake.

Sakura turned around to face him almost immediately with her swollen red eyes. Sasuke laid the palm of his hand on her face while rubbing it with his thumb.

"They're doing everything they can" he told her in an attempt to make her feel better.

"What if something happens to her?" Sakura asked dismayed.

"Don't worry about that right now, just hope they catch the people responsible."

"Why?" Sakura asked as if she were a 7-year-old child playing the 'why?' game.

Sasuke decided it wasn't the best time to tell her that she'd been made a target as well, so he told her "so they can face the penalty for what they've done, and I have one less business competitor on my monopoly board."

Sakura didn't find the later half of his explanation amusing; she just curled up in his chest and fell asleep, fast and hard. She didn't even dream, everything was just completely black.

With the pinkette being out cold Sasuke went downstairs to work with the detectives a while longer.

* * *

Sakura awoke in a startling fashion the next morning with the Uchiha hovering over her. She hitched her breath in surprise and attempted to push him off as a reflex, but he didn't move considering it would take more force than a groggy shove to move his rock solid body.

"W-what are you doing?" Sakura asked slightly startled.

"How long has it been since I touched you?"

Sakura blushed furiously stuttering, "I-I don't kn-know…"

"The fact that you can't remember is proof that it's been too long" Sasuke growled in her ear, "Let me refresh your memory, it's been over a month."

"I'm s-sorry" Sakura whimpered.

Sasuke nibbled on her ear and neck before asking, "So what are you going to do about it?"

Sakura didn't know how to answer so she moved his mouth to hers in a kiss.

"That's more like it" Sasuke growled against her lips as he took time to run his hands up and down the pinkette's body.

It's true that he's seen her provocatively dressed and even naked in the shower, but considering she was in a drunken stupor he couldn't do much to satiate his male appetite. He also couldn't touch her all the while when she had her amnesia. Between her visits to the hospital and dramatic acts of insanity Sasuke hadn't gotten to be physically or emotionally intimate with her. This was the first morning where she was herself, and they were completely alone. He wasn't going to let the opportunity pass.

Sakura couldn't help but whimper in ecstasy as Sasuke nibbled on her pulse and slid her silk negligee down her body and off her person. Pleasantly surprising, Sakura only had on a lace thong, which Sasuke couldn't wait to take off. He slid his fingers around the thin string in between her legs and slowly slid it down until Sakura kicked it off. Sasuke grabbed her knees as soon as the cloth was flung to the floor and moved it to the side and did the same to the other. He rained kisses up her leg all the way to her upper thigh and stayed there, nibbling until she started motioning him to continue. Sasuke smirked against her skin at her enthusiasm. This is the Sakura he'd been longing for. He moved his mouth to the lips between her legs and began planting kisses in its folds. He even slid his tongue in a few times until he though he heard Sakura accidently hitting her head on the bed's headboard. He stopped his ministrations to look at up the pinkette who had a sheepish look on her face. Sasuke shook his head in disbelief at how much of a goober she was and dug his face back to where it was. Eventually he could feel Sakura's juices flowing freely and decided there was enough lubricant for his next course of action. Sasuke wiped his mouth messily with his arm before planting kisses from Sakura's abdomen up her belly, valley between her breasts, and then to her next. As he mad his way up her body he'd slowly slipped himself into her. Sakura arched her back in ecstasy at the stretch she was feeling inside her. She hadn't slept with Sasuke in a long time, which means she had had time to be like elastic and whip back to the shape it was. Sasuke wasn't displeased with the result either, but it made him wearier as to be careful so Sakura wouldn't be waddling again. Sasuke enjoyed each pant, each hitch of her breath, each moan until finally he felt her walls cave in around him and her body convulse then lay beneath him completely motionless.

"Wash up" he told her looking for clean cloths to put on, "I'll talk to you downstairs."

Sakura wasn't an idiot. She knew as soon as she was finished taking a shower they were going to discuss what was going to, or what had already happened to Ino. Sakura felt bittersweet at that thought. She desperately hated being left in the dark, but at the same time, what if it was something that would rip her to shreds? Unless it was good news she didn't want to be told. Judging by Sasuke's tone (which he hardly ever had anyway), she assumed it wasn't good at all.

Sakura slipped into the bathroom and jumped right into the shower. She wasted no time in washing herself and her hair. Sasuke really had let it go to hell. As soon as she was done she wrapped herself in a towel and perused through her closet. After a selection of casual cloths she towel dried her hair as best she could and threw the towels in the hamper and made her way downstairs.

"You should have taken you time" Sasuke said over his shoulder at Sakura whom he saw coming down the stairs, "We don't have everything ready yet."

"Ready? What are you talking about?" She asked as she rushed towards the table but Sasuke grabbed her shoulder and gently guided her away from the table.

"It's nothing really" he told her, "There are a few things left unclear that we haven't discerned yet and we don't want to pointlessly worry you."

Sakura looked around at the scattered FBI agents inside the house. She was glad they were trying their hardest to figure this out, but if it was going to be in Sasuke's house she at least had the right to look at what they were doing. It's true that Sasuke definitely had a more level head than Sakura when it came to matters like this. Sakura tended to let it go to her head and drive her to insanity, however not knowing was doing just about the same thing.

"Just tell me something…" she whimpered, "Anything…"

Sasuke ran a frustrated hand over his face, he didn't really want to deal with his sobbing fiancée, but he supposed he didn't have much of a choice. "She's not _dead_."

"Then what is she?" Sakura asked teary eyed.

"She's injured, at the hospital."

Sakura bolted towards the key rack to grab the keys to her pink Lexus, but Sasuke grabbed her wrist the second she tried to bolt. He had to regain his balance, but looked down at her with squinting eyes. He didn't need her running off right after he had her back. It's true he hogged her this morning, but he didn't want her to be alone. She was a target, and he couldn't tell her that. That's why she couldn't see what was on the table.

"Sakura, be patient. Wait for me somewhere and just relax. I'll come get you and I'll take you myself." Sasuke tried to reassure her.

He could tell his words weren't doing much, but he knew she wasn't going to go flying down the highway without him now.

"Fine…" she muttered as she pulled her wrist out of his now relaxed grip.

Sasuke walked back over to the table of personal investigators he definitely wasn't thrilled with her current attitude, but he had more pressing matters to attend to than letting Sakura visit her friend in the hospital. At least _he_ thought they were much more important.

"I think she might've been able to handle this, probably better than you." One of the agents said flipping through a few disturbing and eerie pictures.

They were all pictures of Sakura that had either been taken with surveillance cameras that had probably been hacked into where ever she went or pictures taken from a personal camera. There were pictures of her from the dinner with Itachi and Kisame all the way up to the present. Sasuke was pissed. He could've set those pictures of fire with the very pupils of his eyes with an ounce less of restraint.

"This isn't a coincidence…" Sasuke said angrily, "You can't arrest him on charges of stalking."

The agent looked surprised as he asked, "How so?"

"These pictures" Sasuke said flipping through some of the engagement party, all of them of her, "They were strategically taken as soon as I took an interest in her."

"It could still be stalking…"

"No. The culprit himself didn't show up in person and I bet a separate person took each of these sets. If it's not the same person, it can't be stalking. He'll just call 'paparazzi' as his cover saying he wanted pictures of the Uchiha heiress for publicity, which is completely legal."

The agent scratched his head. Sasuke had basically won his point. There was nothing they could do for now but keep tight tabs on the girl and make sure she's never completely alone.

* * *

Sakura was sitting out on the veranda of the garden overlooking a few azaleas and hydrangeas that were due to bloom sometime soon since it was February. She hated early spring. It was dreary because of the anticipation with icy slow progress. Sakura pulled her hair behind her ear. She didn't know when Sasuke was going to be done, but she had a servant make sure to let him know where she was. Even though the flora wasn't in bloom, the fauna were springing out of their winter dens starving. She saw how they scurried carefully to avoid the coldest patches of ground where some snow still lingered. She was growing inpatient but soon found something to pass the time.

"Hello" greeted a man in a gardener's uniform as he sat next to her with a bottle of water, "do you mind of I sit here with you?"

"Not at all!" She cooed.

The man gave her a smile as he asked, "Are you excited for the spring?"

Sakura clasped her hands then said, "I'm ecstatic! I mean, my birthday is in the spring. I just love this time of year, minus all the pollen."

"No one with allergies like the spring because of that" he stated matter-of-factly while pushing on his glasses.

"I know this might sound strange" the man said as he reached in his jean jumper, "But a friend of your father's asked me to give this to you."

Sakura took the letter he handed out to her with a shocked expression and asked, "How?"

"Your father heard from his friend you were marrying into the Uchiha's. He said that he was so proud of you and wrote you a letter and asked his friend if there was some way to get it to you. His friend knew I worked in the gardens here and asked me to deliver it to you, personally."

Sakura just looked at the envelope in disbelief. Sasuke had told her that her father was the one who tried to kill her. He was the one she saw Sasuke pull a knife on in the cemetery. How is it that he would write her a letter as if it never happened? In his defense he was obviously drunk off his ass, but sometimes drunken stupor brought out the subconscious of people and their intentions.

Sasuke was headed down the steps of the sunroom outside into the garden but stopped halfway down the walkway to the veranda. He clenched the car keys he had in his hand and like an agile tiger he was careful on how he approached his prey. If this man got away it would be detrimental. He was a strong lead to solving this whole problem.

"If you'll excuse me" the man said as he stood up and walked towards the end of the veranda then turned around to bow, "It's been a pleasure talking with you Ms. Haruno."

However the second Kabuto turned back around he saw the Uchiha running at him full force. Sasuke knocked Kabuto to the ground and the breath right after him. Sasuke wasted no time in straddling Kabuto's hips and punching furiously at his face.

"Kabuto you slimy bastard!" he yelled as he stopped his punches and shook the man senseless.

Sakura leapt up and ran to the other end of the veranda in fright as the scene played out in front of her. He was just a gardener, wasn't he?

"Sakura get inside!" Sasuke hissed as he gave the girl an almost deadly look.

Sakura didn't just 'get' inside, she _ran_. She was completely confused but the first thing she did was run strait into the kitchen and start screaming.

"Sasuke beating someone up on the veranda!"

The men immediately moved out and Sakura followed them. By the time they arrived Kabuto was completely subdued. Sasuke had both the man's arms painfully behind his back.

"What on earth are you doing!" the head detective asked but soon saw a glimpse of the man's face.

He recognized him as the one who was always standing near Orochimaru in almost every publicity photograph they found. The other fact was employees didn't usually spend their breaks chatting with their employer. This man was by all means a suspect.

"I'm placing you under arrest" the detective said as he cuffed Kabuto and took him away to a police car to be taken elsewhere for an interrogation and secure keeping. Somewhere _away_ from the homicidal Uchiha.

"Arrest _him_ for assault!" Kabuto spat angrily as blood splattered from his split lip.

The detective shook his head and said, "You're trespassing on _his_ property. I can't do that in this instance. You're just shit outta luck."

As soon as all the detectives and agents went back inside to deal with the dramatic matter that had just occurred Sakura grabbed Sasuke's arm in a gesture for him to stay behind.

"What is it?" he asked with a quizzical glace.

Sakura lowered her head then looked back up at him scowling, "What the hell was that about? Why would you randomly just _attack_ someone!"

"It wasn't random."

"How?"

"You don't remember his face? You were probably wasted by then."

Sakura gave him a confused expression then asked, "You mean the night before?"

Sasuke just nodded then continued, "He's the one that spiked your drink with roofies."

"I thought Orochimaru did that?"

"He did. That's his right hand man who did the dirty work for him."

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

PLEASE REVIEW! I really do enjoy getting sporratic emails on my phone with what you guys have to say! Constructive criticism is welcomed as long as it is with kind words. I was really disheartened to see hate mail on my phone from another story, some things you are welcome to say, but when you add in sarcastic vocabulary and demeaning tones, it doesn't get your point across, only your foul attitude :(

I hope none of you intend to do that, because I love even hearing "good story, update soon" as far as I'm concerned.

Let me know if you watch Fairy Tail as well as your favorite pairing if you do! I might just try something! ;)


	23. London, Speed It Up, Houston Rocket!

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

So I'm terribly sorry I've been on hiatus. Between Guild Wars 2, school, drama, being sick, and my mom's surgery I seriously haven't hardly had a moment to myself. This has been sitting on my computer for at least a week and all the reviews from my newly finished story Ashiteru made me realize that I hadn't updated this one! I have one more chapter still being worked on, but again, I'm really sorry for the update, and the fact that these chapters are very short and sorely lacking lately T^T hopefully I'll be summing this one up soon as well, but I honestly don't know where I want to take it... Thank you for being such patient readers and so appreciative of my work! :3  
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! ^(^0^)^ WOOT!

I do love hearing from you guys. I get all the emails on my phone so I can read what you post within 10 minutes of you posting it! It makes me feel special!

* * *

Sakura still had a confused expression on her face as she hoped the letter she clutched behind her back was genuinely from her father. She figured that she would find out soon enough when she read it and identified if it was her father's handwriting. Sakura then realized that the only other letter her father wrote her was all the way back at the dorm, far from her anxious reach.

"I'm going to go back to the dorm after I visit with Ino, ok?" Sakura said nonchalantly as she tried to fold and tuck the letter in her back pocket.

Sasuke could tell she was hiding something and immediately scowled, "What are you hiding behind your back?" he asked motioning her to come closer.

Sakura was hesitant in coming closer to the Uchiha, but complied and Sasuke reached over her shoulder, into her back pocket and took the letter.

"What is this?" Sasuke asked irritated.

"It came in the mail for me" Sakura retorted as she took the letter from where he was holding it tauntingly in front of her face.

"I don't believe that for one second" he said looking down at her with chastising eyes.

Sakura returned the cross look he was giving her asking, "and why not?"

With a smug smirk he answered, "Because the mail doesn't come for at least another hour. You also wouldn't have hidden it behind your back."

Sakura cursed her natural instincts to hide the letter and tried to find a way out of the hole she'd dug herself. She desperately wanted that letter. She had such feelings of hatred towards her father when he left that it had left an untouchable part of heart broken and longing for him.

"I'm not stupid" Sasuke said attempting to take the letter back but was thwarted by Sakura's reflexes, "I know Kabuto gave you that letter."

Sakura cringed. He was right on the money. However she was going to keep this letter even if it meant being arrogant and insubordinate. It's not like _he_ didn't have an attitude.

"This letter is addressed to _me_" Sakura emphasized pointing to herself indignantly, "Therefore it's _my_ property and will remain in _my_ possession."

Sasuke twitched at the finality in her voice. When did she become so bossy?

"You're going to put your life in jeopardy over a letter?" Sasuke sneered at her with crossed arms leaning in close to her face.

"It's just a letter" Sakura replied placing a light peck on his lips to try and quell some of his agitation, "It's not life or death."

Sasuke scowled as Sakura walked away back towards the house. She really didn't understand the irony behind her words. That letter really was life or death, depending on how Sakura acted upon reading it.

* * *

"You ready to go?" Sakura asked coming down the stairs with her purse on her shoulder.

Sasuke gave her a look of contempt as he stood up from the kitchen table (now rid of the stalker photos of Sakura) asking, "And why should I?"

Sakura scowled. He really could be a prick sometimes, "If you really feel that way I'll take myself. You don't have to play babysitter, no one's asking you to."

Sasuke scowled when he realized that he really couldn't pull shit like that with Sakura in this state. It was easy to manipulate her emotions sometimes. Situations like this with Ino in the hospital were harder to control. Whenever she was dead set on something and she couldn't get it, all hell was sure to break loose. Sasuke eventually scowled and took the keys to his BMW out in the driveway and drove Sakura down to the hospital. He was making a motion to get out of the car and go in with her, but she just shook her head and waved her hand.

"It's really is ok, I have plans for dinner with them later. Just go home and I'll be home later, alright?" Sakura told Sasuke placing a kiss on his cheek.

Sasuke just scowled. He didn't want her to be in the hospital with only a few other people. He almost convinced himself to go in there with her and completely ignore her request, however as long as she didn't leave the hospital unescorted, the worst thing that could happen is that Orochimaru would be watching her, but even that made Sasuke's blood boil. He decided he only had one option in his cards right now, was to go home and search for that letter. He knew Sakura hid stuff and she was in a rush to see Ino, so it was obvious she'd keep it safe at home to read later when she had the time.

A

"Ino-pig!" Sakura cried throwing her arms around the blond.

Her best friend was in tears at the sight of her. Sakura could only guess the thing's they'd done to her both on and off narcotic date-rape drugs. Ino was still going through tedious testing, but she, Chouji, and Shikamaru were right there with her. Whatever the results Ino told herself she wasn't going to fall apart. The only two things she was mainly concerned about were pregnancy and a viral STD. Ino could take almost anything else like a true woman.

As time passed with dull conversation a nurse eventually came into the room to deliver the verdict, "You are completely ok. You do have a bacterial infection down there, but I'm guessing it's from unsterile exposure. It's easily fixable and nothing permanent. There's also some small hairline fractures in your right ankle that we'd like you to wear a splint for a month or so to keep it from breaking completely."

Ino was so relieved that she wasn't in any permanent danger. Sakura threw her arms around the crazy blond chick and decided that it was ok to go out and celebrate. The only real condition was that Ino would have to put up with Temari at dinner. Shikamaru's girlfriend was less than ecstatic that he was with Ino and not her at that waking moment, but to go out to a meal with her too would drive Temari over the edge if she wasn't invited. That's the last thing Shikamaru wanted, more troublesome women.

* * *

"Table for four please" Shikamaru said to the hostess before they were led to a booth towards the back where it was quiet.

All four of tem glanced at their menus while Temari seemed to be keeping an unnecessary watchful eye on Ino. Sakura kept trying to signal to Temari that Ino wasn't at all interested and Temari shouldn't feel threatened. However it was to no avail. Eventually Shikamaru had to cough to get his girlfriend's attention to order her food.

* * *

"Where is it?" Sasuke hissed shuffling through every one of Sakura's pant pockets in the closet.

He was even over turning tables and completely excavating dressers. He knew he could have the maids find it, but he thought of this as a personal matter and didn't need attending to from anyone else. He really didn't want to have to drag anyone else into the matter. Especially since work hands around the house were prone to gossip. Impatiently, he tapped his foot with his arms crossed scowling wondering where it was he should look next. It wasn't as if answers were going to fall out of the sky and into his lap.

"Loretta" he called into the hallway.

A timid creature slowly approached Sasuke answering, "Yes Sasuke-sama?"

"Please clean this up to what it was before, and if you find a letter, give it to me immediately."

The maid nodded and then sweat dropped as she looked around. There was no way she was getting off before 11pm tonight.

Sasuke hustled down the stairs to his car. He grabbed the keys and proceeded to this time take his cobalt blue Lamborghini. He stepped inside the hospital only to be told that the party of four checked out hours ago. Sasuke decided that it wasn't the time to panic seeing as Sakura wasn't alone. The nurse said that they all left together to eat somewhere so Sasuke decided the best way to find her now was her phone.

Sasuke walked briskly back to his car muttering, "pick-up… pick up…" as he listened to the dial tone of Sakura's phone.

"Hello?" he finally asked when the dial tone stopped ringing in his ears, "Where are you? Sakura, It's too loud in there, step outside… yes. Don't go anywhere I'm coming to pick you up. What? Well then I'll just wait out in the car. No, I don't want to intrude. I'll wait. Alright, bye."

Sasuke ended his conversation as he headed over to So Pal Bak noodles. He seriously wasn't hungry. The only reason he honestly wanted to go to where Sakura was was that he could protect her. He didn't know when and where they would strike, but considering the measures they took to detain Kabuto, Orochimaru wouldn't take long to make a move. How long could a snake survive without one of its fangs?

* * *

"What? He's outside?" Ino asked rather confused and not in a pleased way.

Sakura nodded, "He's been completely a-wall lately. I honestly have no idea what's causing him to freak out this much, but it's starting to ruin _my_ social life."

"Invite him in" Shikamaru suggested.

"He already said no" Sakura replied huffing with Shikamaru rolling his eyes, "he said he didn't want to intrude."

"Bullshit" Temari said crossing her arms with a 'hmph!'

Sakura just shrugged as she handed some money to Shikamaru for dinner, but when the pineapple shook his head Sakura laid the money of the table as a tip for the waitress.

"It was really nice eating with you all" she said but then laid a hand on Ino's shoulders, "I really want to talk to you whenever you get the chance. It's important."

Ino nodded and watched as the pinkette headed outside.

* * *

Sasuke was watching them from where he stood leaning against his car and easily saw when Sakura stood up to leave. He watched her as she exited the building and then had a complete heart attack when he saw a man with long hair. He ran apprehensively and grabbed Sakura leading her to the Lamborghini. However he felt completely awful when he realized it was a father of two small boys and _not_Orochimaru.

"I'm going insane," he thought to himself.

"Wait! No!" Sakura shouted stamping her foot before being thrown into Sasuke's car, "I brought my own car I don't want to leave it here!"

Sasuke pinched the skin between his nose. He wasn't in the mood to deal with this, not now.

"Will you come strait home in your car behind me?" Sasuke asked agitated.

"No, I wanted to stop by the dorm to get some-"

"Absolutely not" Sasuke interrupted her with finality.

Sakura clenched her fists at her side. She was trying as hard as she could from being vicious towards the Uchiha but he was acting worse than a three year old with separation anxiety. He was constantly coming to get her, pulling her away from her friends, trying to isolate her, and she was sick of it.

"You _aren't_ the boss of me!" Sakura grumbled as she turned on her heel and made her way towards her car.

Sasuke stopped her dead in her tracks, "But you _should _respect what I have to say because I'm going to be your husband."

"We aren't married _yet_."

"Yet. You want to start getting into bad habits? You're going to make me look bad."

Sakura almost blew her top. She turned around to face the Uchiha and got right in his face with her finger jabbing into his chest.

"So this is all just an _image_ thing for you? Is that all I'm good for!"

Sasuke grabbed her wrist in an attempt to enforce what he was about to say, but he was too slow and felt a sting on his cheek, "How _dare_ you now respect _my_ decisions! Marriage is mutual! Not a benevolent dictatorship!"

Sakura stomped off to her car with tears in her eyes. Sasuke stayed glued to the side of his car, but started to walk after her when he realized she wasn't going to turn around and abide by his request. By the time he tried to open her side of the car door he couldn't open it, it was locked, and Sakura slammed on the gas and burned rubber out of the parking lot. He knew she was headed towards the dorm. It wouldn't be hard to find her and drive her back. However he knew if she was gone for just a little while longer then he would have more time to look for that letter.

Sasuke got into his car and shot Gaara a quick text message.

_You're sister isn't safe by herself right now._

_I know you hate my guts, but put that_

_aside just for now. She's going to go look_

_for something in her dorm. As soon as she_

_finds it please redirect her home. I don't want_

_her out by herself. I'll explain things later_

_when I can, just trust me for now._

_-S._

Sasuke flipped through his phone and shot Sakura a text message as well.

_Home by midnight, or I'll come find_

_you myself, and drag you back kicking_

_and screaming._

The raven-haired man flipped his phone closed. He assumed that he got his point across to Sakura. Ordinarily he wouldn't be so strict, but he couldn't afford to lose her. She couldn't spend one moment alone to provide and opening, and worst of all, he couldn't tell her. She tended to be paranoid of small things, he couldn't imagine telling her she was an _actual_ target.

* * *

"Where _is_ it!" Sakura hissed desperately scavenging through her old box of things from when she was a kid.

She found several old, small photo albums and small souvenirs and mementos, but not letter. She kept digging until finally at the bottom she found the abused and crumpled piece of enveloped with the letter inside. She held it up to the one she dug through her purse and pulled out. Sakura froze, a perfect match.

"What are you up to?" Came a raspy voice from the doorway.

Sakura spun around, eyes wide, "Nothing onii-chan."

Sakura sheepishly smiled as she tucked both letters into the envelope and placed all her old things back on top of it and put the box away.

"Uchiha sent my to babysit you."

"What the fuck!" She exploded, "Can't he leave me in peace!"

"Nope"

Sakura face palmed. Gaara probably only came out of concern for her, but still, for Sasuke to go to such measures. That guy really had no shame.

"You ought to go home soon" Gaara mused looked at his wristwatch. It was already 11:30pm.

Sakura scowled then answered, "That isn't my home. It's a prison."

Gaara raised an inquisitive brow and sat on the foot of the bed looking down at his sister siting on the floor, "How so?"

Sakura crossed her arms with a huff then hissed, "It's like he's trying to isolate me. He won't let me go anywhere without him or someone else that he completely trusts, and I have no idea why he's so freaked out. He won't tell me anything."

"Did you ever stop to try and see what he was thinking?" Gaara asked skeptically trying to awaken his sister's empathy.

"Well… why?"

"Think back to the incident with Ino just days ago. Do you think that didn't scare him? They almost got you too. In fact they'd planned on it, so what makes you think that's not going to happen again?"

Sakura looked at the floor. What was he getting at? She didn't know what the hell anything had to do with her. She and Ino were two sexy girls targeted for rape. That happened all the time right? But how many people would get someone close's number and live stream their atrocities? None.

"Why? What's going on?" Sakura asked hoping to probe for some clarity.

"You are targeted right now" Gaara said scowled clutching his crossed arms, "Mrs. Future Uchiha. Welcome to the life of corporate competition and underhanded business endeavors."

"We're not even married yet!" She shouted for the second time that night.

Gaara was tempted to slap some sense into her but settled on shouting over her instead, "You're still his weakness! He'd do _anything_ for you! And that's exactly what they want!"

Sakura stopped her slight sobbing and looked up into Gaara's cold, hard eyes.

"Why me?... Why pick me and not another woman in the family?" Sakura whimpered while trying to stand up and make her way to the doorway.

"Hell if I know" Gaara grumbled, "You're the closest to the almost president of the whole damn company. That's probably why."

Sakura was about to whimper another annoying question again, but Gaara cut her off. "Stop your damn complaining. You chose to marry into this, don't be so ignorant next time."

Sakura scowled at her brother's bold and almost unfeeling statement. She picked herself up and stood strait up like she was being challenged.

"You try being under this pressure" She hissed back at him before turning around and leaving the dorm.

Gaara wasn't sure if she was headed back to the Uchiha mansion, but he sent a text back to the Uchiha to inform him she was no longer at the dorm. That was basically all the redhead could do at this point. His sister was on some kind of rampage and he didn't particularly want to chase after her and receive more of her wrath. He's gotten enough of it already trying to get his point across to her. Sasuke really wasn't being the bad guy.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

Well hopefully I'll have more time later on! Hope you all can hold tight!


	24. We Read The Lies Between The Lines

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

So I've been out for two days of school with the flu. I'm coughing, hacking, have head splitting head ache, and I don't think I've felt this miserable for the past two years. I haven't been sick at all for almost 1 ½ years which is probably why I'm soooo sick.

So the drama with my boyfriend continues. He's wedged his way into every social group so I can't even talk with my friends in Skype anymore cause he's all "we shouldn't talk" (the "we shouldn't talk discussion" was completely one-sided. In homeroom he came up and rambled to me how we just shouldn't talk anymore and I'm sitting there in ironic and annoyed silence thinking "ok, so when are you actually going to actually _stop_ talking to me? Cause this is just mellow dramatic, completely unnecessary, and you are in no position to be speaking to me like this") so when he joins the room with all of _my_ friends I have to mute the mic so that he won't flip a flying fuck with all the "oh, so we're talking now?" shit. I'm just so done with this. They're _**my**_ friends. I don't know what his problem is, why he can't give me back my life. I should've never dated him. I'm telling you girls, physically clingy guys, are not _nearly_ as bad as SOCIALLY CLINGY guys. They'll literally steal your life. It's a good thing I'm leaving the goddamn country after college. Let's see him try and steal my life there. Pussy.

* * *

Gaara was walking around the dorm room at the box Sakura had scattered. It was photo albums, letters, and other knick-knacks from their childhood. He squatted down to take hold of a photo he saw on the floor. Before their father left them he wasn't a particularly bad guy. The photo was of Gaara, Sakura, and Sassori climbing all over him like he was a jungle gym.

"I don't like this…" Gaara muttered as he took his phone out and sent a message to the Uchiha.

_You're sister isn't at_

_the dorm anymore. I_

_sent her home, but she_

_was going through old_

_photos and things from_

_when we were kids,_

_I don't like it, I think it_

_has something to do_

_with our dad, be careful._

_-I agree with what you're_

_doing, but I still don't like you._

* * *

Sakura burst through the front door of the mansion five minutes past midnight, the curfew Sasuke had set. He was waiting out of sight right by the door for her too.

Sakura took a few steps inside then shouted, "I'm late, what _now_?" as a bold challenge to Sasuke's authority.

He didn't take too kindly to the invocation and grabbed her wrist from where he stepped out from behind the shadow of the door beside her. She was startled and would have fallen backwards if it weren't for Sasuke's solid grasp on her. He pulled her back up to her feet and grabbed her chin and made her look him square in the eyes with ferocity burning in them.

"Stop being like a rebellious teenager and just concede to what I ask you. It's not like I'm trying to ruin your life. Get over yourself."

Sakura was taken aback by his words and actions and wasted no time in making her hand connect with his face for the second time that night.

Sasuke winced then sneered, "Keep it up and you might wind up leaving a bruise."

"What's wrong? Pretty boy too perfect to put on concealer?"

Sasuke returned the ferocity and slapped her across her own face then shook her as he hissed, "I will _not_ tolerate being abused by my fiancée."

Sakura scowled, "Then what do you call what you just did?"

"Retribution. Don't dish out what you can't handle. I'll give back what you give to me in the same magnitude. It's bad enough you're getting an attitude, but you will _not_ hit me without consequence!"

Sakura had tears rise to her eyes from the sting on her face and in her throat. She wasn't sure what caused Sasuke to have such stoicism while he was shouting this at her as if he were punishing a child. It was irksome and she wasn't in the mood to put up with his sass, so she gave him some of her own.

"Stop it! Just stop! I can't take this! Gaara already told me why you're being like this, but somehow I don't feel any better about it. Cut the crap! You can just be fucking honest, ya know? You preach about being almost married but what happened to trust? What happened to truth? What happened to mutual respect? You're being a one-sided sexist bigot!... I'll be in one of the guest rooms if you need me or if there's anything else you'd like to tell me."

Sakura broke away from his grasp and headed to one of the rooms not bothering to grab pajamas or anything. Sasuke would be gone for classes in the morning anyway. Hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with him first thing tomorrow.

"If…" Sasuke started to speak causing Sakura to stop halfway up the grand staircase, "If you know why I'm doing this now… why are you still acting this way? Am I not justified?"

Sakura gripped the rail with clenched teeth as she seethed, "Is a three year old justified for clinging to its mother? I can't help how what you do makes me feel, regardless of the circumstances, but that doesn't make it acceptable."

"Why am I doing this? I don't think you fully understand…" Sasuke said skeptically. She had to be bluffing, right?

Sakura looked over her shoulder scowling, "I'm a target now aren't I? Dirty underhanded business? Some creep wants a piece of me like he got from Ino, except he'll milk every penny and business proposition out of you because I'm your weakness. Something like that, right? I don't play dumb Sasuke, good night."

Sasuke didn't dare to ask another question since Sakura seemed to be even further irritated and he didn't want to evoke the pinkette's wrath. Especially since he already probably had a lightly bruised cheek. He let her off easy. He didn't slap her nearly as hard as he should of. He didn't know what had bit her in the ass, but if she knew the situation, then she should grow the fuck up and cooperate with him and everyone else who were trying to protect her.

* * *

When Sakura had walked into her bedroom she set her purse down and immediately took out the letters. One was from years ago when he first left them, and the other was from just the other day. Sakura didn't bother reading the old one, but she read the one that Kabuto had given her.

_Sakura,_

_My dearest blossom, can you ever find it in your heart_

_to forgive me? I wasn't myself when I saw you in the_

_cemetery. I was drunk. The reason why I was drunk is_

_because when I first came back to Konoha, I was_

_planning on proposing to your mother and repairing_

_our marriage and bringing out family back together,_

_but when I heard that she'd died in a car accident_

_for some reason, I felt that you and your brothers_

_were responsible for it. I don't know why I thought that._

_It was probably the alcohol thinking for me. In my right_

_mind I would've never laid a hand on you. I want to_

_be on good terms with you again. I individually want to_

_apologize to you and your brothers. I hurt you the most,_

_so I should start with you. This letter isn't enough to_

_convey my sorrow and regret for what happened. Please_

_meet me Thursday evening at the pier. I'll bring a picnic_

_and we can sort things out._

_I'll be waiting for you,_

_Love,_

_-Daddy_

Sakura set the letter down and had to cover her mouth to keep herself from wailing. What had she done to deserve this? She knew it was dangerous, but she had to see her father. He'd left such a huge hole in her life, did she even have a choice? Of course she had to go, but Thursday night… would be tomorrow. She didn't have work, so she knew that would definitely help. However, how was she going to get away from her anal-retentive fiancée? She had to come up with an alibi, and soon.

* * *

"What would you like for breakfast madam?" a servant asked Sakura as she sleepily walked down the stairs.

She was shocked to see Sasuke sitting at the table reading the paper and eating his own breakfast. Sakura was so dumbstruck and a little terrified that she didn't answer the servant who was patiently awaiting her request.

Sakura snapped back to reality stuttering, "I-I don't know what I want. Just g-ge-get me some cereal o-or somet-thing…"

The servant nodded and walked away to the kitchen to whip it up himself since it was easy. Sakura sat at the table as an awkward silence ensued and both were at a mental standstill. Sasuke had half expected her to bolt out the door at the sight of him, but her bold move in sitting at the table was a curveball. He wasn't sure how to respond. Sakura had half expected herself to flee as well, but she wasn't going on an empty stomach, and she refused to let the arrogant prick deter her from her normal morning routine, he could avoid _her_ instead. She didn't know where this new found confidence came from, but she needed to figure out what to say or things were going to go sour.

"Good morning" he finally eked our peeking at her from the side of his newspaper.

Sakura reciprocated the greeting then asked, "Going to classes?"

"Yeah, you too right?"

Since when did their conversations become so dry? Sakura died a little inside at the bland exchange of words they were having, especially after the passionate arguing they'd had last night. It made things that much more awkward.

"Yeah" she answered monotonously as she took a bit of her cereal the servant had brought for her.

"Do you want to carpool?"

Sakura swallowed hard as she said, "I can't, I have to go somewhere else after school."

"Like where?" Sasuke asked narrowing his eyes already suspicious.

He didn't particularly care if this ended in another argument, but he wasn't going to just let her wander around on her own. If this conversation had happened a month ago, they wouldn't be having this problem. It just sucked that things had come to this.

"Would you butt out of my life?" She hissed.

"No" came his dry answer, "You'll carpool with me to school, and I'll take you where you need to go afterwards, ok?"

"No! It's _not_ ok!" She almost shouted as she put her bowl in the sink and went upstairs to change her cloths for school.

Sasuke scowled. He wasn't particularly happy about the situation to say the least, but he didn't have a choice. He was going to pull the ignition plug on Sakura's car. It wouldn't break it, but she wouldn't know the difference and would be forced to ride with him if she didn't want to be late. If she wasn't going to choose to ride with him, then he was going to make her. He knew she was up to something after school and he didn't like it. If she couldn't tell him about it, then it wasn't anything she needed to be involved with.

* * *

Sakura came down the stairs so reluctantly find her car keys still hanging on the rack. She had half expected Sasuke to hide them like a child, but she figured she would go to the garage and drive off as soon as possible. She got into her car and as soon as she pressed the ignition button and nothing happened, she flipped.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CAR?" she shouted at the top of her lungs slamming her hands on the steering wheel even though she knew that no one could hear her.

Sakura had had it with Sasuke's shenanigans. She saw him sitting inside his car on the other end of the driveway just looking at her as she got out of the car and stormed over to him. She knocked on the window even though he'd been looking at her the whole time.

"Get in" he told her nonchalantly after rolling the window part of the way down, "We're going to be late for school."

"You _broke_ my car!" she shrieked as she slammed the passenger side door.

Sasuke pinched the skin between his nose, "I didn't break it. You get your car privileges back when you learn to answer my questions about where you're going."

"I can't believe you're going this far" she said scowling.

"I can't believe you _made_ me go this far, Sakura. I don't know how many times I'm going to have to tell you, but you _need_ to stay out of danger. Don't be alone with anyone besides the people who I trust, and don't ever be by yourself, ever."

"Why can't it be someone I trust?"

"You trust too easily, and that's going to be the death of you."

"Ok fortune teller. Any other predictions you'd like to give me?"

"Yeah, you're going to be inside my truck at 7pm after classes and we're going to go home."

Sakura rolled her eyes. He really could be an asshole sometimes. She didn't want to accept the fact that the person she cared about was slowly pushing her away with his clingy behavior. It wasn't even clingy, it was just, controlling. Sakura couldn't deal with controlling. She's had enough from her two restrictive brothers. The last thing she needed was a domineering boyfriend.

* * *

"Heya Saku-chan" Naruto cooed as he casually draped an arm over his pink haired friend's shoulders, "Where you going?"

"I'm taking the train" she answered as she was speedily headed towards the campus exit.

Naruto scratched his head asking, "Why…?"

The pinkette just smiled sheepishly over her shoulder at him and answered, "I'm just having dinner with a relative. I'll be home later though if Sasuke asks."

"Wasn't Teme expecting you to go home with him?"

"Yeah, but just tell him something's come up."

Sakura hurried away and wound up tripping but quickly picked her self up and briskly jogged to the train station where the next ride to the pier was loading. Naruto found it strange that an opened envelope fell out of her bag.

"What a litter bug…" he mumbled as he picked them up, not bothering to return them since the girl was long out of sight, and then read them for a few minutes and ran to find his friend.

Houston we have a problem.

* * *

Sakura got off the train and headed towards the pier. It was dark out already and she felt a little uneasy walking down the back alley shortcuts to get to the pier. It was technically closed at this hour, but there were ways of sneaking in that she and her brothers knew. She could see her father sitting on a blanket at the end with dinner spread out in neat little boxes. Sakura felt something inside her jump. She _knew_ this was wrong. There was no doubt this couldn't lead to anything good. Meeting with the man who almost killed her, who Sasuke would kill instantly if he ever saw him again, but she couldn't help herself. This was the man who was in her life for the first almost 13 years of her life. How could she push someone like that out? She wasn't expecting the consequences of what she was doing. All she knew is that she couldn't ignore an invitation from her own father for an apology.

She walked to the end of the pier and cleared her throat. Her father jumped up and with eyes wide and ran to hug Sakura. Both shed a few tears before sitting down in silence while Sakura's father dished up their meal. It was too surreal.

"So how has life been treating you?" he asked her with a smile.

* * *

Sasuke was on his phone seeing if he had missed any messages from Sakura. It was 7:30 and he hadn't heard anything from her. He was livid. The only thing that drew him out of his trance is when the dobe started pounding on his car window. Naruto was panting from running, so he had to take a minute to catch his breath.

"Teme! Sakura! She took the train!" Naruto shouted in between pants handing Sasuke the letters that had fallen out of Sakura's bags.

Sasuke skimmed over the letters and his face turned grim. He left Naruto behind in the dust cloud of his car. He had to go find Sakura. He didn't care how mad she was that he was following her. Seriously? Her father? The one that tried to kill her? She was honestly going to go meet this man? Again? There had to be something mentally wrong with her!

Sasuke laid rubber and ran every red light hoping that he wouldn't be too late or kill someone in the process.

* * *

"-and then he had to lift me up to blow out my candles!" Sakura giggled while munching on a dumpling out of one of the boxes.

"Sounds like you really like this boy. He must like you too to throw you such an extravagant birthday party!" Her father answered.

Sakura put her chop-sticks down with a solemn face before looking at her father and asking, "You didn't want me to come here for you to apologize, did you?"

Sakura's father put down his own food and let a few tears rise to his eyes as he answered, "I had no choice… they threatened to kill your brothers. There's no right answer in this situation, but saving two instead of one just… makes more sense."

"I can't believe you…" Sakura spat while biting her lower lip and letting tears flow down her face, "You don't have faith in your own sons to protect themselves? They've been protecting _me_ for years!"

"This is a different league, Sakura! These men have endless recourses. If it were me they wanted to kill I wouldn't have hesitated to offer up my life."

"You think they won't kill them anyway? Father think clearly! What could possibly hurt them to kill all three of us? It's just easier to use you to get to me!"

"Well, they told me they weren't going to kill you… they were going to-"

"Yesssss" came a voice from behind the man, "But ssssoon ssssshe'll wissssh sssssshe wassss dead."

* * *

WOOT! Sorry this took so stinking long! I've been out of school with the flu for two days now, so in between sleeping for 16 hours a day and feeling miserable I've conjured up the energy to write something. I'm sorry to say that I might not write hardly at all… I now have an AP and honors class, two part-time jobs, and just strait up drama… ugh. I hope you all will READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! :)


	25. Topsy Turvy

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

I'm so so so so so sorry! It's been forever since I've updated and it's because I've been absolutely bombarded with school work! On top of that I'm also having problems with my ex boyfriend. It's been almost two months and he still isn't over what happened. My mom had to block his number and I had to be moved out of his classes. That's how ridiculous this is. I couldn't even go to my friend Halloween party cause the girl doing the guest list invited him, but since the girl who's house it's at is my best friend for the past 4 years and really my FIRST friend I ever made, it's not surprising she kicked him off the guest list. Whatever you guys aren't really interested in these little snip-its about a mellow-dramatic teenage girl's life. I hate drama, so just do yourself a favor and enjoy peace while you have it! HAPPY ALMOST HALLOWEEN!

PLEASE REMEMBER TO READ AND REVIEW! ^(^0^)^

* * *

"You!" Sakura hissed while pointing her finger at the intimidating man walking out from the shadows behind her father.

"I want you to take it back!" Sakura's father shouted, "Take the money back, the deal is off!"

"I don't think so" came Kabuto's voice from behind Orochimaru.

Sakura couldn't believe she'd landed herself in this mess. She should've just trusted her intuition and never came in the first place.

"Where do you think you're going to run to?" Kabuto asked, slowly walking towards her, "There's no one else here. The Pier is closed, and your back is to the water. Going to go for a swim little mermaid?"

"You're wrong!" She shouted slowly being backed towards the water, "Sasuke will come!"

Kabuto held his stomach and laughed, "You really put too much faith in that boy. He can't help you now. Even if he were to show up this instant, what could he do by himself? It's 2v1."

"Wrong" She snarled, "I'd fight you too."

"Oh!" Kabuto let a jolly exasperation escape his lips, "A girl like you? I'm _so_ scared."

Sakura bit her lip to regain her composure even though it started to bleed. While Kabuto was distracted by his laughing and making fun of her, she wasted no time in dashing for the silver haired nerd and landing her steel-toed boot right between his legs. Kabuto didn't even have any sound escape his lips. He simply fell over sideways in agony. Soon after Sakura was abruptly grabbed a hold of from behind and her arm was twisted behind her back.

"You'll pay for that later missssy" Orochimaru slitherily whispered into her ear.

Sakura cringed at the dingy and dark aura of the man now holding her captive. She just hoped that they had nowhere to run.

"Kabuto, pull yourself together and get the chord" Orochimaru barked at his writhing assistant.

* * *

Sasuke broke through the chain-link fence gates of the pier and went tearing towards the docks. His truck had a fender guard so ramming through weak metal-wire fence did virtually no damage to his car. He screeched onto the gravel road along the pier and stopped at the edge of the maze of wooden piers and docks. He flew out of his car and stopped short of the edge of the dock where it dropped off into the water. Seeing a small light just off on the horizon fading into the fog of the ocean, and at his feet there was a tarnished meal. She _was here, but not anymore._

"_**Sakura**_!" he shouted from the edge of the dock with his hands by his mouth.

He heard nothing, except the slap of the waves on the wooden pillars of the docks.

* * *

Within an hour Sasuke had the detective at the edge of the dock looking for any kind of evidence to convict Orochimaru, anything incriminating enough to get Sakura back. It was considered fraud to bring up charges of kidnapping without undeniable evidence first, then a search would take place. Sadly the man shook his head, there was nothing to link Orochimaru to the crime. The only evidence that could've served as a witness had run off without a trace. Sasuke growled, he never should have trusted her to listen to him and meet him back at the car.

"_Damnit_!" he hissed while pulling his hair and snapping a wooden pillar on the dock with a kick.

"I wish there were more evidence here, or if you had seen him with your own eyes" the detective said shrugging.

At this point there wasn't anything either of them could particularly do. Sasuke just got back in his truck and slammed his face on the steering wheel rim several times before quietly sobbing with his face against it. He silently blamed himself. He was practically taking away all her freedoms, and she still slipped away. Orochimaru _still _got her. Sasuke knew there was no use in crying. Action needed to be taken, immediately.

He took out his phone and called the two people he knew would be the most upset, and most useful. Gaara reacted violently and Sasuke could've sworn he heard something smash into a million pieces on the other end of the phone. He just hoped the next thing the ginger smashed wouldn't be his face. Sassori reacted with utter contemplative silence. There wasn't much either of them could do. However Sasuke wasn't without a plan.

* * *

Sasuke awoke in the middle of the night to his phone vibrating on his nightstand. He could hardly sleep anyway, the second he closed his eyes the only thing waiting on the other side of them was a nightmare.

"Hello?..." he groggily grunted.

His bloodshot eyes snapped open at the sound of crying on the other end of the phone. "Sakura!" he shouted into the speaker.

"Sssasuke…" came the slithering hiss of Orochimaru on the other end of the phone, "I win. It wasss niccceee playing with you."

The "chk" of the phone ended any kind of angry conversation Sasuke was planning to spew. This wasn't over. Orochimaru couldn't just keep someone against their will and say it was game over. Sakura was a strong girl, and he knew whatever Orochimaru had in store wasn't murder, it would be much worse for her to stay alive. Sasuke cringed at remembering what happened to Ino. He told himself that he would personally dish out justice if it wasn't given through legal means.

It was another long 4 hours before Sasuke got up at 6am sharp to go to work the next morning. Groggy and apathetic he walked through the glass doors into his office of the Uchiha corporation, he hated being president in training. It wasn't what he liked at all. He was a completely hands off manager. He only stepped in when something went wrong, unlike his micromanaging father.

"Sasuke" Fugaku called his son into his office sternly from over his desk's intercom, "Come see me immediately."

"What is this?" Fugaku hissed throwing a business magazine on the table in front of his son open to an article of Orochimaru and a pink haired girl.

"Sakura!" he shouted, "damn he works fast…" he hissed afterwards.

Fugaku pinched the skin between his nose and flared his nostrils before demanding, "Explain."

Sasuke scratched the back of his head hesitatingly before answering, "Last night she was kidnapped. I was planning on sending the secret police with a diversion over to Orochimaru's estate to bear eyewitness that she was being held there. However for him to come blatantly open like this makes me even more afraid of what he's planning."

"Read it."

Sasuke picked up the article, holding the folded magazine in one hand and casualy slipping the other in his pocket with his weight shifted.

_Orochimaru proudly shows the business world his newest endeavor. He adopted this young girl (Sakura Haruno) at the age of 17 when her mother died in a car accident and her father had abandoned her. He let her stay with her older brothers even though he'd bought and adopted legal-custody of her from the state. He now declares that she cannot marry into the Uchiha Corporation to their youngest son and heir without a merger of their corporations under his authority. She is now being taken back into his custody as a dependent since she is still attending college classes and does not live on her own outside of living with the youngest Uchiha. A date for the merger meeting has yet to be announced._

Sasuke threw the magazine at the wall, "What is this _bullshit_!" He was furious. No, that was an understatement. He was _livid_. "What makes him think that he can just buy people? She's 19! an adult! How can he take control of her like this?"

"You don't understand the law, son" Fugaku said sternly, "You are under your parent's or guardian's control until you have an independent job outside of their influence, and live completely independent of their financial help of any kind or any sort of aid. Or when you turn 21. Orochimaru still has legal control of her since he bought her from the state at 17, unbenounced to her I'm guessing."

Sasuke pulled his hair. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. How can kidnapping suddenly become legal? She did have a job outside his sphere of influence. Her job was under his, and she was paying for her own college tuition through student loans.

"He was still financially helping her, from the shadows."

"How so?" Sasuke asked angrily.

"He paid her student loans off without telling her. She still thought she was in debt when she really was in no debt at all. And because of that financial aid, she was still a dependent under his care all this time."

How could Sasuke's world suddenly turn upside down like this? How could things be so backwards like he was a rat falling into a trap elaborately placed for him.

"If he had custody of her this whole time, why go to such extreme measures just to kidnap her?"

"That, I don't know." Fugaku scowled just as frustrated as his son.

The stoic man would never admit it out loud but he really like Sakura. He found her to be a perfect fit to keep his spoiled son in line and make sure that he was well taken care of. He also loved her as a person. She was radiant and dignified, stood up for herself and what she believed in, and everything a woman of the Uchiha household was supposed to be. He wasn't going to lay this to rest until the bitter end.

"Son, go get Neji. You two are going to pay a surprise visit with me."

Sasuke's eyes widened, were they busting in? Or playing diplomat?

* * *

One hour later three male Uchihas and two male Hyuugas were in front of Orochimaru's impressive estate. All five walked inside and were graciously greeted by the snake man's footmen. The place was elaborately decorated with scaled furniture and the walls lined with glass tanks and exhibits of live reptiles. It had an air of mystique and a sinister quality about it. All the men were led to the main parlor where a generously large sofa was presented to them to sit on. Each sat up tall with dignity except Sasuke who refused to sit until he saw the bastard's face.

"Sit" Fugaku told him sternly, "I know you're angry and anxious, but pacing will only look unprofessional and will come back to bite you."

Sasuke stopped and turned on a dime to face his father with a scowling face, "Sorry I can't be as relaxed as the rest of you."

"We aren't relaxed" Neji immediately corrected him, "We just aren't… going insane."

Sasuke just gave him a half-assed sarcastic grimace before taking a seat on the sofa between Itachi and Fugaku. He wasn't looking forward to this. The fact that each one of them had a gun tucked in the back of their pants made him even more uneasy. He hoped to god he wouldn't have to pull his out and use it on someone.

A few moments later a gray haired man entered the room and greeted them all with a confident smirk, "Hello, are you here to see master Orochimaru?"

All the men narrowed their eyes and nodded, "His lord will only see two at a time, who would like to go first?"

"Wipe that fucked-up smirk off your face, Kabuto." Sasuke hissed with his arms crossed and head slightly tilted towards the man.

Kabuto stopped smirking and scowled before saying "I guess that means the only one's here on professional business are the two Corporation heads… Uchiha-sama and Hyuuga-sama. If you would, please follow me."

Sasuke ground his teeth as his father and felt the urge to tackle the grey haired man to the ground and beat the living shit out of him. He was the one that laid the elaborate trap for Sakura by manipulating her father no doubt. What a conniving bastard.

"If the gentlemen wish," Kabuto stated looking over his shoulder before turning the doorknob to Orochimaru's office, "You three may go see the princess up stairs. Under guarded supervision of course."

Sasuke froze dead in his tracks with widened eyes and before he could even bark the question Kabuto pointed up the stairs with a smirk, "Eighth door on the left down the west wing."

Before Itachi and Neji could even hold a civil debate with him over possibly seeing Sakura at this time he was flying up the stairs faster than eyes could follow. Neji and Itachi caught up with him down the hall out of breath with his hand on the doorknob. Sasuke didn't know why his mind was suddenly hesitating.

"This _could_ be a trap" Neji emphasized, trying to get the Uchiha's attention.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

DUN DUN DUNNNNN! What will happen next! No one knows!


	26. Catch My Breath

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. Currently I'm dealing with 3 brain tumors. 2 in my cerebellum and one near my pituitary gland, and it's potentially brain cancer. Life's just a fucking bucket of puking rainbows right now. Not really. I also couldn't get my license today like I was supposed to because I had A SECOND MRI in addition to the one I already had like a few days before my birthday. Oh, also my ex-bf and I are back together *Rolls eyes* idk it's complicated but he was my best friend ya know? Real relationships that aren't petty kiddy shits and giggles relationships, your significant other isn't just a fuck buddy, they're your best friend in the whole world. Loosing that felt like loosing a lot and he felt the same so we're trying to iron out a few wrinkles that went awry last time.

He's also upset about my current medical situation. My mom's coming _unglued_ telling me, "It's ok! modern medicine is really amazing, we'll get through this" but it's sad because I know she was saying it to herself. I mean, to me it is what it is. It's just sad for the people around me because while I'm helpless to help myself, everyone who loves me is helpless too, and being helpless to help someone you love is harder than being helpless to help yourself. The only hard part in this for me is seeing everyone around me worry like I don't notice.

I mean I've always had weird symptoms like headaches in that part of my head in the middle of the night and sometimes while I'm standing up not walking or anything I'll just randomly fall or get woozy and lose my balance. I just always thought I was a clutz or something. I mean when someone gets a headache or trips over themselves they don't diagnose themselves with brain tumors ya know? So I just never saw this coming. The worst part is when I went to the OBGYN for being checked for STD's after telling my mom about how I was raped several years ago, they took blood work. That blood-work came back with high levels of this hormone released from my pituitary gland so the doctor ordered an MRI. Well when they looked at the MRI and I myself did as well, I couldn't see too much wrong with the gland, but there was a honking mass in my cerebellum that was blatantly obvious to me that it shouldn't be there.

My mother told me to stop over-exaggerating but low and behold the formal report was released and I was right, however the MRI wasn't with contrast, so I had to get one with contrast today and I skimmed over the scans and basically the "tumor" in my cerebellum turned out to be "tumorS" and apparently there's a small something near my pituitary gland, but that's the lesser of the issue. The biggest issue is the possible cancer I might have because two tumors in my cerebellum are so close together and looking all squiggly like an octopus could signal cancer.

My mumsy would kill me if she knew I was spewing all of this to random strangers, but I figured if I suddenly stop writing for over 3 months you all could assume I'm dead o.o

Lol kidding, kinda. It would be a LONG time before I died and I would make someone write an obituary on my bio author page if I did. But I hope you all enjoy this chapter and just if you have a moment, whatever religion you are, keep me in your thoughts and prayers and send me some positive energy :)

* * *

"Tayuya! NO!" Sasuke heard Sakura shout on the other side as another hot pink haired girl burst the door off the hinges pinning Sasuke to the floor with the woman standing on top of it.

Itachi and Neji wasted no time pulling Sasuke out from under the door causing it to plop onto the ground with Tayuya still proudly standing on top of her handy-work. Sasuke immediately dashed for the rosette kneeling on the floor near her bed, but Tayuya stuck her arm out in defiance. Sasuke ignored the brutish bodyguard and shoved her into the doorframe sending her crashing to the floor.

He took Sakura in his arms as she cried into his suit, "You shouldn't have come."

Sasuke was deeply troubled by that comment, but not as troubled as the chaos he heard behind him. He turned around to see a gun drawn in Tayuya's hand aimed directly at him.

"Are you crazy!" Neji shouted rhetorically as he leapt to deflect the shot in another direction, "You could wind up shooting the girl you're supposed to be _protecting_!"

Itachi beat Neji to it and was next to Tayuya in the blink of an eye smacking her into the wall, slapping the gun out of her hand onto the floor. Neji leapt for it and quickly tucked it in the side of his pants, then drew his own gun. Sasuke stood and drew his as well while Itachi put an arm around Tayuya's neck and a knife to her side.

"You messed with the wrong clan. You draw one weapon, but we have three. In the game of chess it's not about what piece you loose, but how many in the exchange. You are sorely outnumbered. Surrender now and we'll take the girl and leave. Refuse, and we'll kill you, take the girl, and leave."

Sasuke looked a little wide eyed at his brother, "Itachi what're we doing?"

"Ask Neji" he retorted with a nod towards the Hyuuga, "He drew his gun first."

Sasuke looked at his friend with a questioning glace.

Neji pointed towards the window with his free hand and said, "Take Sakura now, figure it out later."

"This is technically kidnapping" Sasuke hissed to himself.

He couldn't stand to leave her here though, it just wasn't possible to leave the girl in that sick snake-man's grasp, especially after what Orochimaru had done to Ino. Sasuke quickly scooped the pinkette up bridal style then swung her around onto his back.

"Hold on tight" he said as he slowly crawled out the window onto the terrace and up onto the roof. Neji and Itachi followed suit after gagging and tying-up Tayuya.

Sasuke wandered around until her saw a glass sky-top roof and made his way over to the pyramid shaped window and kicked the bottom square in. Glass shattered into the foyer below them, luckily no one was in that giant room and Sasuke saw and exit from there.

"Shit we don't have any kind of rope" Neji hissed to himself.

"Undress" Sasuke commanded as he took off his cloths and started ripping the finely tailored suit into strips of fabric and tying them together. All the men had stripped down to their boxers, and all were feeling embarrassed and drafty.

"We're still 10 feet short, we can't jump off the end from 20 feet in the air. Everyone will get hurt." Neji stated agitated.

"I'm sorry…" Sasuke said as he looked over towards Sakura making a 'come here' gesture, "You too."

Sakura turned beet-red, but she'd do just about anything for her freedom right about now. Luckily Sakura only had to strip down to panties and a corset under her elaborate dress. She handed her dress to Sasuke who proceeded to rip the intricate, laced fabric making Sakura cringe a little inside. She couldn't deny that the dress was flawless, until now.

"That's just barely enough" Sasuke stated as he threw the makeshift rope down, "One at a time, this isn't hardly sturdy enough for everyone at the same time.

"Ah!" Sakura gasped as she fell over.

Sasuke spun around quickly to see that Sakura was on her side and her ankle was starting to swell, "What happened?" he asked her while taking off her ridiculously high heeled shoes.

"I forgot to take my shoes off, so I fell on this stupid roof tile and twisted my ankle." She hissed as she grasped at the swelling joint.

Sasuke cursed to himself then spat, "You two go down first, I'll have to carry her on my back."

"Are you sure you can?" Neji asked skeptically.

"If I were sure, would I ask you to go first? Of course I'm not sure, you need to help catch us if we fall." Sasuke spat sarcastically.

Each moment they spent bickering on the roof with the dwindling rope, their time slipped away from them that they had to escape. He knew Orochimaru was stealthy like snake. There would be no obnoxious alarm, flashing lights, or animatronic voice spewing "intruder alert." He would have stealthy movements from the shadows betwixt agents. There was no doubt in Itachi's mind that Tayuya was free from the gag and hot on their tails with her comrades in tow by now.

Neji and Itachi carefully one by one shimmied down the rope and checked the foyer for any signs of intruders. Since the coast was clear Sasuke loaded Sakura up onto his back and began to slide down the rope avoiding the serrated edges of the broken window. He was part of the way down the rope when his blood stopped cold in his veins. Up at the rope's base was none other than Tayuya, slicing away at the fabric. Before Sasuke could even react the rope was cut free and they were falling from 40 feet in the air.

"Catch her!" Sasuke shouted at the top of his lungs as he took Sakura's arm from behind him and flung her from his back towards Itachi who ran and slid to catch her right before the marble floor did.

Sasuke wasn't as fortunate. Neji tried to make it in time, but there was a sickening smash as Sasuke hit the floor and remained motionless. Neji almost hesitated to move him, but then realized that if Tayuya _was_ up there, then someone would be down _here_ shortly, if not already.

"We have to _go_" Neji pleaded as he tried to pick the unconscious Uchiha up onto his back, "Just carry her and I'll take care of him. Get to the car as fast as you can. Don't worry if we fall behind, Sakura is the priority right now, that's the way Sasuke would want it."

Itachi nodded with slight hesitation as he piggy backed the half naked girl on his bare back out the back garden doors running through the trees to weave his way into the front courtyard of Orochimaru's mansion.

"Don't worry about Sasuke" Itachi tried to comfort the pinkette, "We're celebrities, if anything happened to him it'd be everywhere and Orochimaru would be thrown in jail so fast it'd make his corporation spin around a few times."

"Is that why I'm the priority?" Sakura asked hesitantly, tearing up a little.

Itachi looked over his shoulder at her for a second before nodding in silence.

* * *

Amidst the middle of the adult discussion happening between the three corporations that were less than civil, Orochimaru sprung up in defiance.

"You _both_ cannot exclude me and make the overall markets boycott me! I offer goods and services from around the world that are exclusively mine. I've monopolized at least 3 industries! You're fools to think you can run me bankrupt if I refuse to cooperate with you."

The two men just huffed and crossed their arms. They could and they would if he was really going to insist on the marriage being conducted in this manner. However both men were trouble when Orochimaru scowled at a small flashing red button on the other side of his bookshelf.

Only a few short moments later Kabuto burst into the room hissing, "Was it your intent for your sons to kidnap our little flower?"

Hyuuga just stood from his seat and Fugaku shortly after him with the first saying, "We did what we must. You cowardly took custody of her from the shadows and if you weren't ever playing an active role in her life then you have no right claiming guardianship. She's been paying away her money to non-existent loans being cheated out of her money. When this reaches the courts and she demands her independence there is _nothing_ you can do."

Orochimaru stood from his desk livid as he sneered, "You will _rue_ the day you declined my offer."

Fugaku curtly walked past Kabuto with a cold shoulder and a grunt and Hiashi right behind him.

"You know that they didn't get away from here unscathed" Hiashi wisely commented as both men got into the remaining limo.

Fugaku pinched the skin between his nose and sighed, "We'll take an inventory of the damage later. Right now I need to know if they were even successful. I'm sure they were, but I want to make sure. Are you coming with me?"

Hiashi understood and nodded in silence as the limo pulled out of the estate's driveway and onto the road.

* * *

"Get some ice water and call an ambulance" Neji commented as he laid the barely conscious Uchiha on the sofa.

He'd regained consciousness in the car on the way back to the house. Sakura insisted they go to the hospital, but in the state all of them were dressed and considering the circumstance they'd come from, going to the hospital, and ultimately the authorities, didn't strike Neji as a very attractive situation.

"Please tell them to hurry!" She cried down the stairs as she turned around limping and shuffled through her drawers upstairs to find cloths to quickly put on.

She found a blouse and t-shirt and a pair of clogs by the door. After she grabbed her phone and purse she quickly shuffled down the stairs. It was remarkable to Sasuke that considering the traumatizing environment she'd just been released from and her current painful injury she was so easily able to focus on him instead of her own freedom and well being.

Sakura scooped the Uchiha's head carefully into her arms on her lap on the sofa next to him as she cooed running her hand through his hair, "Please, please don't fall asleep. You have a really bad concussion and you'll fall into a coma. Don't do to me what I did to you, please…"

Sasuke chuckled to himself a little at the comment. It was hell that time when she was comatose, but he could only try so hard a human being before his biological limits were reached. He knew he could hang on a little longer before the ambulance arrived. What was bothering him more than his splitting headache was the gaping crack in the back of his head. The bleeding hadn't stopped, it'd only slowed down. He could feel the blood loss because he was incredibly light headed. Sasuke didn't want to waste his energy on speaking, so he just cupped Sakura's face and felt the tears streaming down her cheek and a pang in his stomach knowing she was upset. He couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Please don't cry…" he whispered softly tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, "I promise everything will be ok."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

Fugaku and Hiashi pulled up to the house only to be greeted by sirens blaring and a stretcher taking Sasuke into the back of an ambulance, and a paramedic helping a limping Sakura into the back with him. The police were also conveniently there as well. As long as Orochimaru was out of sight Fugaku wasn't very concerned about any legal litigation or trouble. The fact that Sasuke wasn't dead was proof enough that he was going to be just fine, as far as he was concerned.

"What happened?" Fugaku asked sternly to Itachi as he walked up.

"He decided it would be a good idea to shimmy down from the roof with rope made out of our cloths. However Orochimaru's lackeys cut the rope while Sasuke was in the middle of carrying Sakura down the rope with her sprained ankle. He threw her to me and I caught her, but he wasn't as fortunate."

Fugaku just ran a frustrated hand through his hair, "and the police? What are they here for?"

Itachi shrugged, "They came with the ambulance and fire truck like they always do. They'll probably leave soon and then we can all go to the hospital. I sent Sakura to go with Sasuke even though she's a valuable witness because she needs treatment for that ankle too."

"How did that happen?"

"Her ankle? She was on the roof in ridiculous heels so when Sasuke put her down to use the cloth from her dress to make the rope she fell over and twisted her ankle."

"How graceful"

"I'm glad you've kept your sense of humor through all of this. All of us almost died."

"Oh don't be so dramatic. You were in danger, but I don't think you were in danger of truly dying. Orochimaru isn't so dumb as to try and kill someone with the amount of publicity that would haunt him."

"Remember, there's no such thing as bad publicity."

"True, but he'd be in jail, and you know that."

"If we don't play our cards right, Sasuke can go to jail too."

Fugaku crossed his arms and thought hard. Itachi was right. What they'd done could legally be prosecuted as kidnapping, but that wasn't going to stop them from taking Sakura back every time. She could also testify that her custody was unbenounced to her, and that it was unjustifiable that she was trying to be independent, but had been forced into a guardianship.

"Get in the car" Fugaku commanded his son, "We're going to the hospital. I'm actually a little concerned this time."

Itachi was a little unsettled that even his father was worried this time around about Sasuke.

* * *

"Do we have permission to operate immediately?" A surgeon asked Sakura as they were getting out of the ambulance.

"Why are you asking me?" She asked a little confused.

The doctor pointed to her ring, "You are his spouse are you not?"

"Engaged" she corrected him.

"Doesn't matter, it's close enough"

Sakura looked down at Sasuke one last time before he was taken into the double doors of the ER, "Do everything you possibly can."

"I will miss" he told her respectfully as he bowed and followed the stretcher into the hospital.

"Now," a paramedic asked from behind her, "What are we going to do with _you_?" she asked pointing to Sakura's ankle.

All she could do in response was sheepishly smile as a wheel chair was brought out to her and she was taken to a less intensive triage to be treated.

"What's going to happen to my fiancée?" She asked a little disheartened.

"That's all up to him and his will power" she said skeptically.

Sakura looked down at her palms in uncertainty. She knew he had the willpower, but would he use it?

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW! ^(^0^)^ I love hearing from all of you.


	27. Her Diamonds

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

So here's the update: basically it is ONE tumor in my cerebellum. We went to see a surgeon at Emmory today in Atlanta and basically what's going to happen is I'm going to have surgery on the 20th of this month (December). I'll spend two days in ICU, then two to four days in regular care, and then possibly a week in physical rehab. The surgery is 3-4 hours long. If I said I'm not scared I'd be lying through my teeth, but the worst part of this is I'll be spending Christmas in the fucking hospital. Like how awful is that? I better get a visit from some phony Santa or something cause this just isn't ok =[

My boyfriend said he was going to come visit me once I got out of ICU. What's really horrible for me though is that the 20th is the last day of finals so I'll either have to make up my Earth Science final or I'll have to take it early. I'm thinking the later option because make-ups are a bitch. Anyways, with that in mind I really have no idea when I'll be updating.

Btw I don't care if you don't like Christmas, but Merry Christmas, because I would sooner have a 10ft pole shoved up my ass before I say "happy holidays" or "merry x-mas". If my stating what I celebrate offends you then you can get over it. #1 I'm not even a Christian, I'm a pagan, I celebrate Yule. However saying "Merry Yule" just isn't as appealing as the generic "Merry Christmas" which I also celebrate with my family. Christmas isn't even about religion anymore it's so freaking commercialized. I see more santa's decorating churches than nativity scenes, sadly. Besides if anyone tells me "happy Hanukkah" or "happy quanza" I'd be like "thanks! Merry Christmas!" cause I just don't fucking care. I wish everyone was like that.

* * *

Sakura sat by Sasuke's bedside. Supposedly he would wake up at any moment. She didn't want to leave his bedside. She didn't even get up to greet Fugaku and Itachi when they walked into the room. She just nodded respectfully at them. Eventually the surgeon himself came into the room to explain the situation.

"Who authorized the surgery?" he asked looking around the room at all of the family members.

Sakura hesitantly raised her hand, but wasn't sorry she did.

The doctor looked at her and said "not a moment too soon. If you had hesitated and thought about it before giving consent then there's an extremely good chance that he wouldn't have made it. His head trauma was severe enough to almost cause hemorrhaging. The bleeding was so bad that I'm surprised he was able to stay conscious for as long as he did. If he'd fallen asleep he would've fallen comatose. However the anesthetics should be wearing off soon, and he's going to be in a lot of pain. We sutured the stitches to close the gash in his head, but the bone will just have to heal with time. Keep his head elevated to keep the brain tissues from becoming swollen and causing further damage. He also can't get his head wet for the next 72 hours until the stitches have sealed. Just to be safe, keep it dry for four to five days."

Sakura nodded at all the care instructions she was being given. Since she was the one that lived with him it would fall under her responsibilities to oversee his care. It wasn't hard for her to see the critical face Fugaku was giving her the whole time. She'd be lying if she said it didn't make her uneasy. What had she done wrong? Sasuke was hurt trying to save her, that much was true, but it wasn't her decision to have him save her. Sasuke made that choice. But she couldn't help but feel that Fugaku was holding it against her.

Several hours went by and the Uchiha didn't stir a muscle. Fugaku and Itachi had already gone home to relay everything that had happened to both Mikoto and to Hiashi. Sakura was beginning to worry, and she soon learned that incessantly asking the nurses for his vitals and progress to waking up didn't make him conscious any faster.

"He'll wake up shortly, huh?" she sighed in frustration looking at his pale face and motionless body.

Sakura looked into the doorway to see if there was anyone looking in and saw there wasn't, so she slowly slid into the hospital bed and melded into Sasuke's side. She stealthily slipped his arm around her waist and snuggled up to his side and put her hand on his chest. She knew someone would eventually catch her, but she didn't care. She just wanted to have a few moments feeling like everything was back to normal.

When she closed her eyes she felt like she was right back home with Sasuke in their bed in their mansion. She blocked out the germ-x smell of the hospital and replaced it with her imagination of the sweet smell of sandalwood found everywhere around the house.

The only thing that lured her out of her sweet daydream was the warm embrace of sleep that she'd been sorely lacking. However her dreams that were full of sunshine, Sasuke, and happiness were soon replaced with a replay of escaping Orochimaru's house. She finally awoke with a start after slowly watching Sasuke fall to the ground and re-hearing the sickening smack of his head against the marble floor.

"Hn" she heard a grunt as she twitched and gasped waking up.

Sasuke just raised a brow and had a slightly concerned face as he looked at the groggy pinkette.

Sakura hitched her breath then dug her face into Sasuke's chest sobbing "thank Kami you came back to me..."

"You ok?" he nonchalantly asked her as he pulled a few lose strands of hair from her face and tucked them behind her ear.

"mhmm... I just had a bad flash back I guess. I'm scared something bad is gunna happen."

"Don't be" he replied, "I'm right here."

The pinkette nodded then snuggled her face back into Sasuke's side while he stroked her hair with one hand and put the other behind his head, staring aimlessly at the ceiling.

A while later in the night, small rap on the other side of the door snapped the Uchiha from his thoughts. He saw Sakura still sleeping soundly beside him and wondered who could possibly be knocking at 2am. After he asked himself that question he was on high alert and scowled as the door slowly eased open, shedding light into the room from the bustling hallway. There was a man in a suit standing indignantly in the doorway.

"Is this the room of 'Sasuke Uchiha'?" the man asked looking down at a sheet of paper he held in his hands.

The Uchiha heir scowled not liking how formal this discussion was turning out to be, "What of it?"

The man reached into his briefcase and pulled out a court order stating, "You are summoned to the court of law to be prosecuted for kidnapping."

Sasuke wanted to tear the document, but what the man said next made Sasuke want to _him_ in half instead.

"We will now be taking custody of Ms. Haruno until after jurisdiction."

The man reached for Sakura to wake her up, but Sasuke went livid. In primal instinct he flew up from the bed ripping all the IVs and vital sign equipment from his body. The pulse monitor went flat and let out a high-pitched alarm as Sasuke slammed the man into the wall with his arm, and got an inch from his face.

"You will _**never**_take her back" he seethed behind grinding teeth.

Sakura at this point was awake and two more policemen were putting restraints on her after she fought them off and was screaming. The room was a scene of mayhem when the nurse walked in to check on the flat pulse alarm that had gone off earlier. She quickly ran to get the nearest security guard and doctors and nurses. Sasuke was headed towards the two policemen cuffing Sakura, but was promptly slammed to the ground by a large guard and had a sedative administered into him.

"_No!_" he shouted desperately as he helplessly watched Sakura being taken away still limping from her ankle.

However, Sasuke's pleads went unacknowledged as he was slowly losing consciousness, but he saw one glimmer of hope. Gaara And Sassori suddenly appeared in the doorway before Sakura was lead out, and they confronted both policemen. Sassori tried to say something to Sasuke who was dwindling between consciousness and oblivion, but everything was already beginning to get hazy. He could barely make out what Sassori was saying and had to read his lips.

I_ won't let them take her either... I promise..._

* * *

_Sasuke!..._

Sasuke wasn't sure what he awoke to. It was completely dark and desolate. All he could sense were vibrations of energy around him.

_Sasuke __**please**__!..._

Was that Sakura's voice? He wasn't entirely sure. If he didn't know where he was then how could he tell who's voice was who's? Then again, Sakura had a distinct high pitch whine to some of what of she said and this pleading sounded like her.

_**Sasuke!**_

The raven haired boy awoke in his hospital bed with Sakura still beside him. He could tell by the look on her face she wasn't happy.

"Sasuke..." she sighed in relief as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rapidly kissed his cheeks, "They gave you too much sedatives since your anesthesia had just worn out and they were afraid it might've caused further damage."

"As long as you're still here it's fine" he told her while cupping her face.

Sasuke became alarmed when Sakura looked down at her lap and held onto his hand cupping her face with both of her hands and started crying.

"I can't stay" she whimpered as a few tears gracefully fell from her face, "They won't let me..."

Sasuke looked to where Gaara and Sassori were standing only o have Sassori step forward.

"The court ordered a supine to force Saturated to be in court so you can't flee, and they got a court order for re-custody of her. However Gaara and I disputed the claim and claimed guardianship for her. So now we're taking Orochimaru to court for her own self-custody and to combat the charges for your kidnapping. However due to the allegations stacked on you they said Sakura cannot be around you until the court date. I let her stay to say goodbye herself, but court is in a few weeks, so it won't be too long."

Sasuke didn't want it to be any kind of long. He'd just gotten Sakura back; he didn't want to surrender her again, especially after all the trouble everyone had gone through. If it were to all be for naught then all hell really would break loose.

"Fine, but make sure no one else takes her. As long as she's with you I'll know she's safe" Sasuke huffed finally agreeing while trying to wipe some of Sakura's silent tears from her face.

The poor girl was speechless. She was so happy to be free from that awful house even though she really hadn't been there for too long. Gaara walked over and gently put his hand on her shoulder then walked out of the room after nodding at Sasuke who nodded back as well. Sassori then waited a few more minutes as the couple said their silent goodbyes then led Sakura out of the room still in tears. Sasuke waited for the door to close behind Sakura before letting out a few of his own. He wasn't one to cry, but everything as just falling apart. The only thing he had going for him was Sakura's safety. He kept trying to play the blame game on who's fault it was but he kept winding up blaming himself. If he'd made her quit for good and stay away from the night clubs instead of thinking of them as 'home' then maybe she wouldn't have been so at east at Orochi and she wouldn't have gotten herself in trouble or been a 'person of interest'. If only she wasn't his fiancée, then they wouldn't have a reason to target her.

As the night went on he kept getting harder and harder on himself. He'd stopped crying after 3 or 4 tears which he quickly wiped away, but he couldn't help but stare aimlessly out the window in a sappy thought wondering if Sakura was doing the same, seeing the same stars. Sasuke was going to be released from the hospital tomorrow and he'd been given a very detailed set of instructions for care of the stitches on his head as well as the pain medication he desperately needed, and a calcium supplement to help his bone heal faster. He was going to have to explain things to his father later, especially the court order. Itachi had already been contacted about it and was busy getting the best legal defensive team together. Sassori also volunteered his services to help since he was a certified paralegal, which would be useful in order to research information and scan over documents so the lawyers and attorneys could focus on the allegations.

Even with the best legal team behind him, Sasuke was facing serious charges. However he found it incredibly strange that Itachi and Neji hadn't been indicted or labeled as accessories. He wasn't going to take his comrades with him. He was willing to be the scapegoat and be the only one in jail then having everyone in jail. He just knew that it was done on purpose simply because he was to inherit the corporation, which Orochimaru wanted to get his grubby hands on. If he wouldn't lure Sasuke in with a marriage agreement through false means, then he would just throw him in jail. It seemed simple enough of a plan. But Sasuke couldn't help but feel there was some sort of catch, and worst of all he couldn't protect Sakura.

He was more concerned about that than his court date, because Orochimaru wouldn't stop these stupid custody orders and attempts until Sakura was in his clutches. Sasuke wouldn't stand to let that happen, even if he had to go to jail, he would, but he wouldn't dare let Sakura give up her freedom. He would find a way to make all of this work.

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

* * *

Thanks for reading! DON'T FORGET TO **READ AND REVIEW**! ^(^0^)^


	28. Heart of Courage

**Disclaimer: **I DO NOT own Naruto.

Sorry I haven't been able to update oh-so-frequently. I'm having brain surgery on the 20th. I'll be in the hospital on Christmas :( boo. Anyways, I'll be out of commission for a while, definitely until after new years. I also am trying to get a job as of late. I have no idea when I'll have copious amounts of time to write, I might be able to write some while I'm in the hospital, however the first two days after my surgery I'll be in ICU. But my ever dutiful boyfriend said he was going to visit me right away with a bouquet of flowers in a beautiful purple glade vase (the vase is what I want for Christmas :D ). My friends also plan on caravanning in someone's car to come see me as well once I get out of ICU. I might also have to do a week of physical rehab :( phooey. I hate brain issues. Anyways, just remember that on the 20th at 2PM-6PM I'll be in intense brain surgery and just send some positive thoughts or prayers my way :) I thought I would appeal to you all since you love my stories so much you probably love me as well! :D

buuuuuuuut I won't get ahead of myself ;)

I hope you all are excited that things are coming to an end soon! The next chapter will probably be the last! DUN DUN DUNNNNN!

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! ^(^0^)^ WOOT!

* * *

Sasuke tightened the silk cloth around his neck that was his favorite tie. He was incredibly angry, but at the same time he was also incredibly somber. The grief of the situation at hand outdid the raging fire inside of him.

"You have five more minutes" Itachi said as he peaked his head in the door.

Sassori, Itachi, and Kakashi were all three waiting for him outside the door to enter the courtroom. There was an incredible amount of pressure on Sasuke's shoulders and no one would deny it. This court date would decide not only the future of the Uchiha Corporation, but also of the youngest Uchiha himself. This is where he would make it, or break it. Sasuke took a deep breath and let out a huge sigh before turning the door knob only to be bombarded by the press and paparazzi. Between camera flashes and loud accusational questions from the reporters Sasuke found himself covering his eyes and trying to block out the commotion. It didn't even take a full 24-hours after he got out of the hospital for the publicity to spread to ever single tabloid in the city. It was everywhere that Sasuke had "kidnapped his fiancee" a completely twisted situation from the reality of what had truly happened. Hopefully the rumors would be dispelled after the case was closed, but not everything always had a happy ending.

Kakashi and Itachi guided Sasuke through the chaotic crowd leading him to the double doors of the court room which hopefully would be a little less crazy.

* * *

"I hope you know what you're doing" Kabuto said to Orochimaru as he took his seat next to him at the table before the judge.

Orochimaru scowled as he hissed, "I wasssssn't expecting the judge to be Jiraya, that imbissssssile."

Kabuto just shrugged. He was a college professor of law, it figures that he would be a practitioner of it as well. However since this was a federal crime and not just a civil case, it would be decided by the jury.

A few moments of silence passed until the court doors were opening letting in a cascading sound of camera snaps, shouts, and shuffling. The door closed and the only three on the inner side were Sasuke, Itachi, and Kakashi.

"Is everyone in the court present?" Jiraya asked with a calm assertiveness uncharacteristic of his usual self.

Sasuke looked around the room only to see that Sakura was off to the side behind the wooden gate in the crowd with her brother Gaara to one side of her and Ino sitting next to her on the other. Sasuke was relieved that she was safe and at least appeared to be emotionally composed despite the lingering expression of worry on her face.

"Would the prosecution please step forward" Jiraya ordered as he shuffled through some manilla folders in front of him to look over some of the presented files of evidence.

"First your honor" Kabuto said standing up walking to the middle of the floor, "I would like to point your attention to Mrs. Haruno's financial records of college tuition you will see that it was paid for by Mr. Orochimaru here. Therefore since she is under the age of 21, and dependent on his financial services, then she is legally under his custody. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I have one question" he asked soon followed by a compliant nod from Kabuto, "Was she ever formerly introduced to Orochimaru? Did she live with Orochimaru prior to the week before? Has she ever had consistent contact with Orochimaru? Was she aware that her college was being paid for by Orochimaru?"

"No your honor" Kabuto replied.

Jiraya scowled and asked a follow-up question, "no to _all_ of those?"

"No to all of them, your honor."

Sasuke inwardly cheered from where he was sitting with his 4 attorneys there to help him. It seemed that Jiraya had a soft spot for the pinkeye and would possibly rule in her favor. Though he technically was supposed to have no prior attachments to the case he was serving he only occasionally bumped into the girl when she was around Tsunade, and the case was technically between Orochimaru and the Uchihas. Sakura just so happened to be caught in the middle of the feud.

"I would like to now turn my attention to the defense" Jiraya stated as he looked at the table of disorganized attorneys and lawyers and one paralegal who seemed to take the initiative to stand up.

"Your honor" Sassori stated with faked bravado, "I would like to call Haruno Sakura to the stand."

There were murmurs through the crowd as the supposed Pinkette made her way to the floor where a man holding a bible made her swear an oath of honesty before she took her seat in the witness's stand next to Jiraya facing the court room.

"Sakura, I mean, Ms. Haruno, is it true that you were working in Mr. Uchiha's night club as a stage dancer?"

Sakura looked around slightly ashamed before nodding looking at her hands in her lap.

"Is it true that you were using that money from work to pay for your college tuition?"

"Yes"

"Where did that money go?"

"Towards my student loan"

"Do you have a document showing your transactions with the bank?"

"I do…" she stated shyly as she pulled a packet of bank statements out of her purse to hand to Sassori who then pointed to the judge.

Jiraya skimmed over the documents. Both were official, so who was paying for the tuition? Jiraya scratched his head before looking over to a neutral assistant by the door.

"Take these" he said holding out the papers" get them verified with the bank and find out what happened to Ms. Haruno's money or at least who's lying over this."

It was very important that the jury knew who was paying for the college tuition because that would determine who had legal custody of her, Orochimaru, or herself. However the more pressing matter as the federal charges against Sasuke for the kidnapping incident.

"Is that all the questioning you have for Ms. Haruno?" Jiraya asked.

Sassori looked over his shoulder at his little sister and said, "Yes your honor, for now."

Sakura was dismissed back into the audience behind the wooden railing and retook her seat next to Gaara to see what would happen next.

"Now while we sort out the issue of the college tuition lets address the other charges facing Mr. Sasuke Uchiha. I'll let the prosecution start."

Kabuto stood up and handed the judge a video tape which he proceeded to watch along with the jury on private screens hidden from public view.

"Now as you can clearly see, we invited them in as house guests, and I invited them to go visit with Sakura, however it escalated into an abduction as soon as they pulled their guns on our body guard and absconded with Mrs. Haruno out the bedroom window on to the roof then tried to shimmy down, but as you can see, they didn't get away unscathed. Mr. Uchiha, please show the jury the stitches in your head from falling off of Orochimaru's ceiling please?"

Sasuke growled and couldn't stand sitting there helplessly while others argued for him. He had to show some back bone.

He abruptly stood up and looked at Jiraya then at Kabuto and Orochimaru and seethed, "I fully admit to being on the premises, I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't there, but let me call another witness to the stand, your honor."

Jiraya nodded and Sasuke trudged up to eye level with Kabuto an inch from his face and grunted, "_you_."

Kabuto hesitantly swore on the Bible then made his way into the witness's stand as he watch the Uchiha walking back and forth with a sort of angrily calm aristocracy about him.

"Is it true, that _you_ on the evening after Sakura's release front he hospital, spike two young ladies drinks with roofies? A commonly used date rape drug."

Kabuto scowled then said, "I never gave those to Mrs. Haruno. How dare you accuse me of such lowly behavior."

Sasuke slammed his palms on the railing around the witness stand then asked, "Did you or did you not spike a drink with roofies that night Kabuto, no one gave any specifics. Answer the damn question."

Kabuto grimmaced then answered, "Yes, ok. I spiked drinks."

The whole crowd burst out into murmurs and slight gasps. Jiraya immediately banged his gavel for silence without even having to use the corny line "order in the court!"

After the outburst was quelled Sasuke took a few steps towards the middle of the floor then turned back around to face him and asked, "and is it also true that you and Orochimaru kidnapped and sexually abused one named 'Ms. Ino Yamanaka'?"

Kabuto scowled, "no" his hissed looking at Orochimaru with anger in his eyes.

Sasuke reached over the wooden railing after charging up and grabbed Kabuto by the collar of his dress shirt and tie, shaking him and spat right in his face, "You're a blatant liar and I will _not_ stand here and let you make a fool of me."

Sakura had to put her hand on her friends arm to keep her from charging onto the floor and possibly saying something detrimental to Sasuke's situation. The tension and anger radiating off of the blond was palpable. Sakura just patted her friends arm and looked strait ahead with slight fear in her eyes. If they were lying there wasn't much they could do to stop them in all practicality. However Sakura didn't realize that the Uchiha had an ace up his sleeve.

"Your honor" Sasuke said snapping his eyes to Jiraya, "These two are blatantly lying and I have the means to prove it. However I will need the consent of someone to show it."

Sasuke looked over to the two girls sitting in the stands then asked, "Ms. Yamanaka, is it ok if I show the jury the recording from the phone video call?"

Ino's face resembled a mixture of shock, and shame however she nodded with a determined look in her eyes. While it was sacrificing her dignity to have such a video of herself shown to people it was practically all she could do to help Sasuke turn the tables on the people who hurt her as well. It was her own form of vengeance. However she was happy that only the jury and the judge could see the footage. However the audience could easily tell how horrible it was due to the expression on all the faces of those who had to watch. A few of the juries had to get up and leave their seats temporarily to compose themselves before returning to the courtroom.

After it had finished Sasuke said "I believe I have proved my point. It is obvious these two men are lying."

"Furthermore" Sassori interrupted while getting up to stand next to the Uchiha, "I would like to call two more witnesses to the stand."

"Yes?" Jiraya asked skeptically.

Sassori angrily clenched his teether as he growled, "My father."

Everyone in the crowd looked around a little confused and Sakura had to stifle a gasp and be held to her seat by Gaara. Sakura's natural instinct was fight or flight and in this situation she was leaning more towards the later.

"You _have_ to _face_ this" Gaara gently but firmly whispered in her ear.

Sakura cringed at the truth of her brother's words though she'd never admit it. She was skeptical as she saw a person stand in the very back and slowly make his way towards the wooden rail gate between the floor of the courtroom and the audience. Sassori found it a challenge not to scowl but ushered him into the witness stand after taking the oath.

"Were you, or were you not told by Orochimaru to lure Sakura to make amends with her after what happened?"

Sakura's father looked down in shame but answered, "Yes, I was told to write her a letter of apology and to meet me in person even though it was a trap. However in my defense-"

"We didn't ask for an excuse" Sassori interrupted him with spite.

Sasuke was somewhat pleased, but astounded. Sassori hardly ever showed malice towards anyone, but this anger towards his father was almost tangible it was so fierce. Sasuke felt only a little bit bad for the poor old man.

"That's all I have for the witness, I now call Haruno Sakura to the stand."

Sakura rose from her seat in the audience and her father left the witness stand as well. When they both passed each other at the wooden rail gate the tension reached a palpable climax. However once she was sitting in the witness stand and couldn't very easily see her father, she felt a little bit more comfortable.

"Sakura," Sassori said as he approached her in the stand, "Is it true that before your trip until the night club, Orochimaru was never present in your life, in any way?"

"Yes"

"And is it true that he video called you on your phone with the harassing footage of them abusing your best friend?"

"Yes"

"Is it also true that the night you went to meet your father they kidnapped you off the docks against your will?"

"Yes"

"And is it also true, that while you were present in Orochimaru's house, in his custody, he sexually abused you as well?"

It was a hard question for Sassori to ask, however it was an even harder question for Sakura to answer.

"Y…yes…" she barely managed to whisper as she let a few tears slide down her cheeks, "he did."

Sasuke at that point was livid. He wanted to kill Orochimaru in cold blood, even it if it did send him to life in jail. He not only assumed false custody of her to get back at him and make his life difficult, but he had also _touched_ her in a way that no other man was allowed.

"I suggest the the defense and prosecution change places, because this has completely turned" Sasuke said in somewhat arrogance, however his question wasn't unheard.

Jiraya looked over to him then answered, "That's up for the jury to decide, however considering the current events, and the time being 2pm, I suggest the court adjourn for the rest of the afternoon and return this early evening at 4pm with a decision."

Jiraya slammed his gavel down then made his exit off to the side along with the members of the jury who surely were off to converse about the evidence presented thus far.

* * *

Sakura shot up from her seat and ran down the hall towards the ladies bathroom and closed herself in a stall sobbing. She wanted to keep that history from Sasuke that she had in fact been abused in that manner while she'd been there. However in the court of law, it had to come out she supposed. Her eyeliner melted into her palms as the flashbacks of it all came back. She was oblivious to the sound of the bathroom door and her own stall opening and closing.

"What the hell was that about?" She heard a husky voice ask her.

She looked up in shock to see Sasuke standing inside her stall less than three inches in front of her.

"Sasuk-?" she was interrupted by Sasuke collapsing on his knees in front of her and pulling her into his chest.

"Why didn't you tell me…" he somberly whispered in her ear.

She could feel him shaking, and she couldn't even imagine what he was feeling. She didn't feel as if she had betrayed, she knows that she didn't willingly participate in what it was Orochimaru did to her, but she couldn't help but feel as if she was sullied and permanently stained by it.

"What did he do to you, exactly?" Sasuke asked with his hands on her shoulders looking at her face.

Sakura couldn't even look him in the eye and shook her head whispering, "I can't tell you" as she looked at her palms in her lap.

Sasuke sighed and looked off to the side saying, "I understand, I won't push you."

Sakura was actually grateful that Sasuke was exhibiting some empathy towards her, a very rare occurrence. She accepted his embrace once more as his arms wrapped back around her and held her as she cried into his suit. Sasuke was glad that it was black like her make-up so it wouldn't stain, or show a stain.

"How about we go out to eat something before we come back?" Sasuke suggested as he stood up with his hands in his pockets, "You might want to clean off your face first though."

Sakura scowled at his comment but started scavenging for the compact in her purse as she answered him, "As much as I would love to I'm not supposed to be around you even now, not until after the court's decision."

The raven-haired man scratched the back of his head. He completely forgot about that part. However he didn't feel much like getting something to eat more than seeing Sakura, but they couldn't spend 2 hours undiscovered in a bathroom stall.

"Can you check to make sure the coast is clear for me to leave?" he asked sheepishly.

Sakura closed her compact with her face now clean, or at least cleaner than it was and scowling at the Uchiha, "You really don't think head, do you?"

Shrugging, Sasuke avoided eye contact with Sakura as she shoved her make up and mirror back into her purse and stomped out of the stall opening the women's restroom door and checking the hallway.

"There's no one out here" she blatantly lied as Sasuke followed her out of the door only to come nose to nose with Sassori, Gaara, Ino, and Itachi.

"You sly dog" his brother teased while Gaara just shook his head and Sassori just joined in the humor slinging his arm over the Uchiha's shoulders and dragging him away while Gaara and Itachi took Sakura out somewhere to eat.

* * *

"So I'm guessing that she was right in saying I'm not supposed to be around her yet?" Sasuke asked skeptically as he poured himself a small glass of scotch and did the same for Sassori. They were in the court building's lounge and sad witch bar. Sasuke wasn't one for "finger foods" but they had some upper class cousin that he found suitable.

Sassori sighed as the Uchiha handed him the glass of scotch and sat down next to him, "Well technically yes, but I would have to say at this point you'll probably be acquitted of the kidnapping charges… but…"

"But?" He asked scowling.

"I don't know about all the bank statement business. That's still really cloudy. The fact that Orochimaru shadily obtained access to even pay for Sakura's college tuition is scary. It makes you wonder what other things people can do to you without your knowledge."

"How did Orochimaru even get his eyes set on Sakura?" Sasuke asked somewhat agitated.

"It's a long story…"

"We've got an hour and a half."

Sassori scowled at the demanding Uchiha but sighed and continued, "Basically you could say that my father was a business consultant for Orochimaru in his beginning days when he was a small company and just getting started. Orochimaru saw us on occasion but not more than for five minutes and never spoke to us. He wanted to be our godparent, but that's only after he saw our rosette sister. The man was disgusting and my father said that we already had a godparent, lying through his teeth, so when we went into foster care I guess Orochimaru was alerted and found a way to put an invisible leash on her. It's sickening to think this had been pre-planned for years before we could stop it, but that's just how it happened."

"What's going to happen to your father?"

Sasuke clenched the glass in his hand frowning so hard his eyes were closed as he hissed, "Hell if I know, and hell if I care."

"Ouch."

"He deserves it after what he put us through, especially Sakura. I might've been able to slowly get over the abandonment as children and speak to him on civil terms, but after almost murdering Sakura, well no, actually _murdering_ Sakura, I think that it's acceptable to not even consider him my father other than being my biological ancestor."

"That's harsh. I didn't think you even had the capacity to be mean to anyone."

"I have a special hatred when it comes to my father."

"I can tell."

* * *

"So why are we eating out here on the veranda? Sakura asked covering her shoulders with Itachi's jacket, it's still early spring so it's so cold!"

"It's nice to have some privacy from the other diners don't you think? Especially with what we have to talk about" Itachi replied as he gestured for Gaara to sit next to Sakura.

Both siblings were looking at Itachi with slightly confused eyes as he explained, "I think that Sasuke will stay out of jail, however winning over the court to acquit him of every charge seems almost impossible, I'm sorry. However things look brighter than they did when the court order arrived. The tables are turning and if I'm not mistaken Orochimaru is facing almost three federal charges alone, let alone a possible compensation for your money he's taken as his own to pay for your college tuition unbenounced to you. I got a notice from the court. It was discovered that the bank redirected your payments to him which he would relay back to them to 'technically' pay for your education at your own expense. So in a sense he kept you legally bound to him for free. However doing that without consent from you is illegal, so he faces a civil charge on that note, but that's the littlest of his worries."

"What else is going to happen to him."

"If I'm guessing correctly, which keep in mind I'm guessing, he will probably face over 20 years in prison for an account of sexual harassment, and in your case, rape. However he also is facing charges of kidnapping himself for initially kidnapping you off the docks. Take all of that into consideration and Orochimaru is in deep shit."

"There's no evidence of him raping me other than my word."

"Your word is more valuable than his right now. He lied about Ino, and they have actual video footage that is irrefutable. He's already undeniably guilty of that, so it isn't a stretch to accept what you've said."

Sakura just looked at her palms. The court would be back in session in an hour, and she was absolutely nervous for their verdict.

* * *

Everyone had arrived back in the courtroom uncharacteristically on time, especially Kakashi. Everyone was silent as they rose for Jiraya to take his place on the judges seat. As soon as he was seated the jury filed into the stands off to the side and the room fell into an awkward silence.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" Jiraya asked.

One of the jurors to the far right stood and said, "we have."

"Please proceed" Jiraya stated as he looked to both sides of the court to Orochimaru and Sasuke.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! ^(^0^)^


	29. Cross My Heart

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

So I decided against my better judgment that this short chapter is the best way to end things. Because I've just had my brain surgery and I can't think of any way to end this without over exaggeratingly dragging it out. So far I have my personal nurse (my boyfriend) and my mother looking after me but I can't even get up to take a shit without someone attempting to be my balance beam -.-" *rolls eyes*  
I mean I wasn't even supposed to get home until about tomorrow or longer, but I spent less than 24 hours in ICU and another 24 in general care. I think I set a new record and I'm proud of it!

Here are a few reasons why I didn't drag this chapter out like you would've expected me to:

1. What happens in between Sasuke's legal predicament and their official marriage is completely unimportant. Following him around on his community service adventures is trivial and inconsequential to the plot line of the story.

2. The actual wedding scene might be considered "important" but understand that I have two other stories with wedding scenes, I'm not doing a 3rd, it's overkill for me as a writer, and it compromises my originality. Feel free to imagine your own.

3. Going into grueling detail during graduation isn't necessary as well. The only important event is what Sakura has to say at the end.

4. As fan service I provided a special short and cute little Epilogue, don't kill me.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW! ^(^0^)^

* * *

"The jury finds" the juror said causing tension to rise, "Sasuke Uchiha"

Sakura held her breath from where she was sitting and squeezing Ino's hand as tightly as humanly possible.

"Guilty."

Sakura felt her world spinning around her in a thousand directions. Guilty? He hadn't done anything wrong!

"On accounts of breaking and entering private property and damaging the estate."

Jiraya scowled then asked, "And the other accounts?"

"The jury find Sasuke Uchiha on accounts of Kidnapping and all other charges, innocent."

Sasuke let his breath out.

"The jury has decided as ample punishment that Sasuke Uchiha fully compensate Orochimaru for the damages to his property and sentenced to 1 year of probation and community service."

"And the accounts presented against Orochimaru?" Jiraya asked skeptically.

"The jury has decided to refrain from conviction since these accusations have not prior been announced to the accused. However Orochimaru will be brought before the federal court and tried at a later time for sexual assault, sexual harassment, kidnapping, and financial robing after the discovery of re-looping Ms. Haruno's money."

Jiraya nodded and added, "However he will remain in custody of the state until the next court date, both him, and his accomplice."

Two security guards from the sides of the court walked up to both he men and cuffed them and led them through a separate door to the side to be led to the local county jail. Sasuke felt a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders. He was escorted out of the courtroom as well, but not in cuffs. He was led to a separate room where he provided his bank account information for the government to appropriate the money necessary to repair the damages to his property, mostly Sakura's former room she was in and the roof and glass sky-dome above the foyer. Sasuke signed the papers and was free to go. He was also informed that if he completed 100 hours of community service in the next 4 months then his probation would be shortened to half a year instead. He gratefully accepted the offer and took the telephone card of a few people who were community service organizers so he could get his hours as soon as possible. As soon as that was done Sasuke was sure that he had one other thing he needed to take care of, Sakura.

The next month, they married.

* * *

It was graduation day from college and the final speech was given by the valedictorian of their class, Shikamaru, and all the hats were thrown in the air with a triumphant shout from all the students who proceeded to hug and celebrate right where they were standing. The Uchiha's watched from the stadium stands. Sassori and Gaara watched as well from a different side of the stadium but proceeded to make their way to the exit gates to wait for their sister to come parading up.

After a while he saw her and both boys grabbed Sakura in a huge hug then whispered, "mom would've been so proud."

Sakura couldn't hold back her tears of joy. Her mother never graduated college, but always told Sakura it was her dream to see all three of her children go on and aspire to their dreams with college educations. Her mother had to drop out after marrying their father. She was surprised that she was able to manage it with her own marriage to the Uchiha. He had just graduated with a business major but was already running one of the largest corporations in the country. It was astounding how ironic the situation was. Afterwards Sakura had an announcement to make to the two of them. She waited until Sasuke was standing next to her.

"I'm pregnant!"

Both Gaara and Sassori's eyes widened but Sassori reacted instantly after with yet another hug and shouted how happy he was to be an uncle and Gaara just smiled, for the first time in years, he smiled.

"I'm not surprised with how much you two were going at it like rabbits."

* * *

**Epilogue**

* * *

"Sasuke dear can you get Hana's lunch off the counter she left it on her way to school. You can take it to her teacher's room and eat with her."

"I have a meetin-"

"No excuses" she said sternly at the Uchiha, "You haven't spent nearly enough time with your daughter as of late and it's evident she wants your attention. So you're either going to take her the lunch I made and eat with her, or you're going to clean up whatever she breaks at home to get your attention."

Sasuke huffed and typed in a few things on his iPad to delay the meeting until later that afternoon and walked over to his wonderful wife of 8 years and planted a kiss on her soft lips before jumping into his car and driving off towards the school. He would have to hurry if he was going to have enough time for his daughter to talk his ear off and get to his business meeting. Sasuke walked into the school building and shuffled to the front office to find his daughter's current class number and as soon as he walked into the room he saw her sitting in the corner all by herself.

He quietly walked over to her and sat on the floor by the cubbies with her, "Are you sad because you forgot your lunch?" he asked his 1st grade daughter.

She just looked away then said, "I'm not hungry."

Sasuke scowled, "I came all this way to eat this lunch with you that your mother made us, but you're telling me you aren't hungry?"

"Yes"

Sasuke looked around the room to see some of the other children whispering and pointing at Hana with somewhat distain and anger, "What are the other kids saying about you?"

"No one wants to be my friend" she said indifferently, "They all call me a liar. They said an heiress wouldn't be eating a bento lunch and that I wouldn't be wearing these plain cloths. They don't believe them when I say I chose those things."

Sasuke looked around the room with a new intensity causing the children to squirm uncomfortably in their seats.

"It seems we have a special guest today children" the teacher said as she stood up from her desk acknowledging Sasuke and trying to lighten the atmosphere, "This is the owner of Uchiha Co., most of you in here are probably using one of his companies many products."

Sasuke made his way to the front of the class on a mission to prove a point, "Whichever of you decided to call my daughter, Hana, a liar is despicable. You'll learn soon enough that money doesn't buy you anything in the end. Money is a tool for survival, but it's never successfully used as a tool for friendship. You'll learn the truth behind those words when you're older, but for now it doesn't matter if someone has nice things, or claims to have nice things, it's about being a nice _person_, so learn this lesson while it doesn't hurt."

With his point proven he walked over and planted a kiss on Hana's forehead and left her lunchbox by her side and left. At that point he noticed that she'd stopped crying and he saw several children walk up to her and apologize formally. He smirked to himself knowing he'd done a job well done. Now to get to that meeting before the Hyuuga took over his whole industry.

* * *

_**Fin.**_

* * *

PLEASE REVIEW I'M SO SORRY IT'S SHORT BUT THERE'S NO OTHER WAY TO END IT T^T


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